What Happened To Your Band
by DarkElements10
Summary: [SEQUEL TO DOWN GOES ANOTHER ONE]. McFly's skeletons continue to haunt the boys as they move off on their new venture; McBusted. But that doesn't mean that things are easier for them. From song writing to touring there's always something going on and this time their situations are dire and threaten the future of their band.
1. Chapter 1

**What Happened To Your Band?**

 **By: Riley**

 **Summary** \- Sequel to Down Goes Another One. McFly's skeletons continue to haunt the boys as they move off on their new venture; McBusted. But that doesn't mean that things are easier for them. From song writing to touring there's always something going on and this time their situations are dire and threatened the future of their band.

* * *

"Okay, if we're going to have _three_ bands living in a house together then we need to go over some ground rules," Jake Hardin said, flipping open to the front page of a packet of papers stapled together. He cleared his throat. "First and foremost; everyone picks up after themselves so excess money isn't spent on a maid!"

All eyes turned to McFly, who looked at each other with surprised glances. So what if they got a maid the first time they were living on their own? They were teens at the time with little to no supervision. And as teens the only things they wanted to do was party and have a good time and make music so their band could be successful. How much time did they have to clean up after themselves? But if they had to admit it, the house _did_ get pretty bad. The walls that were pristine white when they moved in were a solid gray when they moved out. It was a wonder their maid decided to stay with them for so long.

"That's fair," Tom Fletcher said diplomatically. Then he reached out his hand and drummed it on the table top. "But considering how busy all of us are at a given time it might not be possible to _always_ clean up after ourselves. I reckon we should just have a big cleaning day on the weekend."

Jake looked at everyone around the large conference table to be sure everything was agreed upon before continuing. "Number two; cooking and dishes are done in threes; one member from each band."

At that James Bourne immediately flung his hand into the air then motioned back and forth between himself and Matt. "What happens if your band has less people than everyone else? 'Cause, it's not really fair if we're the ones who are cooking or doing the dishes every day."

"Especially if we're the ones who have to eat it," Noah Jackson-McGuire murmured, causing everyone else around the table to burst out laughing.

True to James's form, he smiled and shrugged, not offended by the dig. His cooking skills were something he was learning to become better at; especially having gotten his own place in London where he had to fend for himself after having lived on his own in New York for a while where he survived on take out and processed foods. (While his schedule permitted him to be there, anyway). Matt, on the other hand, was a little bit better in terms of his own skills but disliked having to clean up afterwards.

Tom, Danny, Harry, and Dougie were healthier than Busted in terms of their cooking skills but typically didn't have the time to do it. Not only did Harry make sure they were as healthy as possible, but as they were so much in demand, they consistently went out to nice restaurants once shows were over.

Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney could all cook and while they preferred to do it to stay healthy, there were times where the food allergies, likes, and dislikes between the five got to be so tiring that they splurged—to Patrick's initial chagrin before realizing they could get some of the favorite food they gave up to be healthy.

"We'll work out a schedule to make sure everyone has a equal chance of being in charge and having time off," Jake said. He cleared his throat and kept going, "Everyone who _doesn't_ have cooking duty is in charge of the groceries for the house; you're able to get whatever you want, but you have to get what is on the list for the house."

McFly, Busted, and the DarkElements nodded.

"Everyone is responsible for following their own schedule and, finally, no smoking in the house. The designated areas are the front porch, the pool deck, and the balcony of the room off the laundry room." Jake shuffled his papers around. "I believe that's everything. If there's anything else you want to add we can add it later. Do you all agree to uphold to the rules?"

The bands nodded again.

"Good, so the contract is done and all we need is for you to sign!" Jake picked up a pen and made a show of clicking the top so the point clicked out. He passed it to Danny, who was sitting directly to his left, then waited and watched as it was passed around and each of the eleven band members signed in the blank spaces provided below. Once he got it back, Jake looked over it carefully before nodding.

"So, Jake, when do we move in?" Danny asked.

Jake sighed as he rested his hands on his hips. That had been about two weeks ago and it seemed like it had been no time since then. Not just because of the constant meetings with realtors he and the other managers had been fielding to find the perfect place but also because of the general interested meetings for their bands that had been scheduled around it as well. If he knew there was going to be a rush made on the order he wouldn't have brought it up so quickly.

But Fletch had insisted if they were going to make the move to the US, it was the only thing that would work. As it was, Fletch was currently standing by his side, shaking his head as he looked around the foyer. That was a good sign and proved Jake's streak of bad luck had held off a little bit; if you could impress Fletch, you could impress anyone.

"I can't believe you found a house big enough for all three bands to live in." Fletch dropped a box to the ground with a low thud. He gently pushed it aside with his foot and took a few steps into the foyer, glancing over the extravagance of it. "Mate, even I don't have a place this nice."

"Oh, you mean the one that you and your supposed wife live in?" Ronan McGuire commented, following behind him, a box under his arm. He thumped it with his fingertips, laughing along with Jake as Fletch rolled his eyes.

"I _am_ married," Fletch insisted.

"Right, we believe you," Jake said with a failed straight face. He turned his blue eyes to take in the rest of the house as he ventured further inside. It already looked different from the pictures he had seen of the listing. Now that it was all furnished it felt more like a home than a place to just dump everyone os they could get to work. The extravagance was much more than he intended but it was something that'd certainly make their bands feel at home. "It's not a house, it's a freaking mansion. This is even better than the penthouse I got for signing McFly up with Masquerade Records."

"Better than the place I've got," Ronan agreed. He rested the box he was holding on the banister of the stairs and rested his chin on it. "In LA and back in Australia. Honestly, I'm wondering how any of our companies can afford the rent. But you know these guys, they prefer to live together when they're working."

"Are Jacqui and Gen moving in, too?"

"They're not that stupid."

Ronan's statement caused the three men to laugh. "But Riley and Rhuben did tell me that they plan on staying with them on the weekends to get some time away." Then Ronan shook his head. "Honestly, I think this will really work out. Being in New York rather than London will probably make things easier on them. Especially after what happened with Harry…"

Fletch and Jake nodded in agreement. It hadn't been that long since it had happened; when Harry fell into a coma from alcohol poisoning. He had recovered very well and the bands had just recently finished the makeup dates for the tour that ended abruptly. They had been great shows as well. Not only did Busted surprised McFly by performing some of McFly's first songs as a way to show their friendship—which was famously contested once Tom was originally kicked out of Busted and McFly came on the scene, but also was a crowning moment for James who had co-written most of McFly's songs. But also because the DarkElements had recorded McFly's semi-released song _Love is Easy_ and made a music video out of it to show their friendship with the band.

It had been a good distraction at the time. Still, the tabloids and other pieces of media fodder didn't let up on the constant questions for the band and all three managers knew it was starting to get to them. So when they mentioned wanting to get started on a new album Fletch and Jake had gotten to talking.

They had seen how the audience reacted to Busted being back to play some of their shows and knew there was something that could be tapped there. It hadn't taken much to convince Busted to try and work through that, everyone that worked in the music industry knew that you had to strike when the iron hot and when the timing and parameters were perfect. It took Charlie a little bit more convincing but eventually he was on bored with it and maybe, just maybe they could even take things one step further…that was a part Fletch hadn't exactly figured out at the moment but it was at least something that would get the conversation started.

McFly, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to stop. For the duration of the tour they saw the fans that had been there when they started, continue to enjoy their music .Their last tour was a good way to give back but there needed to be more. It had been long enough since _Above the Noise_ had been released that they needed to start working on the next one. Their sound had changed since the experimental album and they wanted to show everyone that they could get back up after being knocked down. Despite the few songs that managed to strike a chord with their fans, they knew it was time to start over from the beginning and that's what drove them to move in. As they said _Only the Strong Survived._

The DarkElements were even easier to convince; while enjoying travel there were times where they felt a change of scenery was a good way to bring up a burst of inspiration. Writing trips was always some of their favorite times and being able to go back to where their journey with their friends first started was the burst of inspiration they needed. They were the first ones to agree to go to New York—though Ronan was sure it was so that they could get away from living in London where it was so cold all the time. ("Not that it matters, New York can get cold, too," Jake had pointed out to them, having lived there for most of his life. "Yeah, but at least in New York you can actually see the sun, mate," Sydney cheekily said in response).

Finding the house wasn't hard, getting the money to pay the rent wasn't hard, knowing there as a chance it could be trashed by the time the bands moved out was horrifying. As it was, the Jacksons raced back and forth from the moving truck with their boxes of clothes and possessions. Moving fast enough so they could finally get everything inside then check out the rooms.

"I think that's the last one," Patrick said as he speed-walked through the door, arms filled with boxes. "And don't worry; I have my wallet this time."

"Good, because I'm not going back into that moving truck to look for it," Ronan stated. He tilted his head towards the stairs as the rest of his kids all sauntered in with their own boxes. "Go ahead and find whatever rooms you want. Each band gets their own floor."

"First one to the biggest room gets it!" Sydney declared, taking the stairs three at a time as he raced up. Patrick and Noah shoved by Ronan to check out the rooms on the main floor and Riley and Rhuben ran to the basement to check out the rooms down there.

Fletch's eyebrows rose as he turned to Ronan, who chuckled and lowered himself down onto the steps. He moved slowly, almost as if afraid to bend his knees. With the slight wince that shot over his friend's face he immediately knew why. One glance at Jake proved he knew why as well.

"You haven't told them yet, have you?" Jake asked, crossing his arms.

Ronan looked up at him and Fletch for a moment before shaking his head. "No. And I don't need to." He held up his hands when Jake's eye widened. "I'm doing Intramuscular Chemotherapy shots. Just not the full-blown, need to stay in the hospital for hours chemotherapy."

"How'd you manage that?" Fletch looked suspicious.

"My line of work. I travel too much, have freakishly long hours, a schedule that's never constant, and lots to do where I can't be on bed-rest. And if I don't do that job, it's just going to make everything implode. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm mostly running Blazing Phoenix and all of its subsidiaries by myself."

Jake and Fletch started o say something else but Ronan held up his hand, cutting them off. "I know you want me to tell them. But I don't need to, not unless things get worse. And they won't. I caught it early. I'm getting treated. Everything's going to be fine."

"You still need to tell them," Jake insisted.

"Did you see them their first few days after their adoption went through?" Ronan asked. "They freaked out nearly every time I went out the door, even if I were just down the street, because they thought I was going to leave."

Jake nodded. He had a similar experience. Shortly after Robert had been taken away, and Jake had taken the Jacksons in as their home life was figured out, he noticed they always seemed to watch him very carefully. Almost as if daring him to do it. They eventually relaxed around him but it had become very telling, very worrying before it was all cleared up.

"You still need to tell them," Fletch insisted.

"And I will."

And Ronan left it at that, opting, instead, to gather everything that needed to be moved into the rooms once it was established who was getting what room and on what floor. As it happened, Patrick and Noah found the biggest and best room—after continuously running up and down the stairs to find it. By that point Sydney had given up looking and casually strolled around the rest of the house to see what it had for them—pleasantly surprised to find the basement was big enough for multiple game systems and TVs to bet set up—with Riley and Rhuben checking out the pool in the backyard.

By that time the managers left the spare keys for the rest of the boys the Jacksons had agreed to take on the top floor with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sharing the largest room, Riley and Rhuben sharing the second largest, and the third being used as a music room.

Throughout that Jake, Fletch, and Ronan were having a much more serious conversation about the futures of their bands. "I don't know what's going to happen after this," Ronan said. "Syd has mentioned that he wants to leave the band but I knew if the guys wanted to do this he'd at least stick around for one more album. But after that…? I'm not sure."

"I thought bringing Anna out while on the last tour would've helped ease his homesickness," Jake said.

"So did I. But it's definitely more than that now. He wasn't lying when he said this was all he's done his whole life. But he hasn't entirely decided what he wants to do so he's probably not going to say anything until he figured it out."

"I know what you mean, mate," Fletch agreed. He cleared his throat. "They boys were hesitant with the marketing we have planned for this next venture, because they don't know how well it's going to work." He held up a hand as Ronan raised an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, they're excited to do it, but you have to take into consideration that as long as they've been around they haven't put out a new album in a bloody _long_ time. If they wait any longer the momentum that's slowly been slipping away will go away completely and they'd have to—literally—start all over again."

"It's why I suggested they work out here in New York," Jake added. "Not just so that they can get connected with their fans here since the release of their album _Just My Luck_ but so they can get some time away." Jake ran a hand through his hair. "You saw how well the mini tour around the US went once they did that massive showcase after _5 Colours_ got radio play."

Fletch and Ronan nodded. It had been a surprise to everyone that McFly continued to rise up and up once hat concert at the Hard Rocky Café had ended. It wasn't a surprise to Jake, though. Despite not having his luck anymore he knew there was something about them that was going to hit with the fans. So they hadn't ended up as big as they wanted; America was a big place it was going to take some time.

And if anyone could do it, it was them.

"Wow, this place is brilliant!" Danny's voice boomed as soon as he stepped through the front door. He reached out and punched Jake on the arm. "I think this is the best job you done, eh Jakey?"

"Would you stop calling me that?"

"Seriously, mate, great job. You're a real corker," Harry added.

"Blimey," Tom said.

Dougie was the last through the door, he took one dismissive look around before asking, "Do we have any food?"

Jake shook his head and motioned for Dougie to move past him. As the McFly boys ventured further into the house they were going to be living in for the next year, the three managers looked at each other.

They just had to wait for Busted so everything would fall into place.

And hopefully this time things would be better for them.

* * *

 **A/N:** First chapter already. So you're probably wondering why I've been uploading so much lately and that's because I know at some point I won't have as much time for FFN and writing fics and I don't want it to get to a point where I have lots of ideas I don't get to rather than being able to at least start them.

Anyway, for this story it's a sequel to _Down Goes Another One_ but in a way you can also see it as a standalone. Mostly because with _DGAO_ I hadn't written in this fandom in a while and had a lot to do but with no concrete ideas of how to do it, so it ended up being a bit of a mess. But I have things worked out better here so I hope you still enjoy it.

 **~Riley**


	2. Chapter 2

Riley grunted as she placed her hands along the side of her bed frame and tried to push it along the floor of the room she and Rhuben were going to share. No matter how many times she pushed it and from whatever angle, that thing wasn't budging. Letting out a long breath she stood up straight and called, "Could someone help me move my bed?!"

Rhuben, who sat on the floor of the other side of the room looking through large boxes, lifted her head and looked at her sister in slight offence. "I'm standing right here. You're not going to ask me for help?"

"You have almost no upper body strength, sis," Riley pointed out. "And the way I see it, if one of the guys help us move our beds we can probably trick them into unpacking for us, too." Rhuben smiled and tapped her temple with her finger.

"Did someone just yell for help?" Sydney asked as he walked into the room with Anna right behind him.

"Hey Anna, when did you get here?" Rhuben asked.

"About a half hour ago," Anna explained. "Syd said he needed some help moving stuff in."

Rhuben raised her eyebrows, hugging the box she was sitting by to her chest. "No, I meant when did you get to America? The others aren't supposed to be here until next week." Anna opened her mouth to respond but Rhuben held up her hand. "Forget it. Long distance relationships suck and you want to be with Syd as much as possible, I get it."

Sydney grinned over at her. "No need to be jealous, Rhu-Rhu. I always said I knew what I was doing with relationships while the rest of you guys were doofuses." He rolled his eyes. "I mean, running by our track record so far Julius and I are on top."

"Yeah, well, you guys are basically on track to mum's and dad's relationship, Little Man," Riley pointed out. She smiled evilly at her baby brother, resting her hand on his shoulder, ignoring her annoyance of now having to look up at him as he had grown taller than her over the years. "And look where they ended up."

Anna laughed as Sydney rolled his eyes at his sister and pushed his hand off her shoulder. "Actually, I have a gig with Nike for a couple of spreads that are supposed to go in some magazines. So I was able to come out early. It's my first time in New York for more than a night! I'm so excited, I can't wait for the others to get here and see it, too."

"Just as long as they don't move in, too," Riley smiled and turned back to Sydney. "Anyway, don't you have to get the rest of your room set up? Last I checked you had so much technological stuff that you won't let anyone else touch, yeah?"

"And he gets aggro about it," Anna piped up. She crossed her arms, rolling her hazel eyes. "I tried to help setting up his computer and I nearly got my head bitten off about not touching the screen and fingerprints, and how I shouldn't get my breath on anything." She giggled. "I reckon his head was about to explode."

Sydney shrugged. "So I like to make sure that my things are in good condition, so sue me."

"You know, I think that's the first sentence you've ever said to me that didn't have a bunch of big words in it."

"Do _you_ know any words other than your name and ice cream flavors?"

"I know pretentious and arrogant."

Sydney smiled. "Touche."

Riley held up her hands and shooed the two towards the door. "Okay, I can't take that much happiness in here. I don't know if you've noticed but in our family we like to dwell on doom and gloom and your good mood isn't helping."

"Cheers, sis. Love you, too." Sydney gave Riley a kiss on the cheek before he and Anna left the room.

With a light sigh, Riley turned back to survey the room. With it being one of the bigger house they'd all been in, the rooms were certainly more spacious. Since Patrick and Noah found the biggest room they decided to share it with Sydney while Riley and Rhuben got their own room, and the third room on the floor was to be used as a music room of sorts where they could get practice and writing done. In their bedroom there was enough space for the girls to have their beds on opposite sides of the room, a small walk-in closet, and a balcony outside their window that overlooked the pool in the backyard.

So it being closest to the stairs meant they heard the majority of the noise coming from the rest of the house, but there did manage to dibs the best floor of the house so that was fine with her. Even Tom, who used to have the entire top floor of the first house he, Danny, Harry, and Dougie lived in agreed it was the better floor. But as far as she could tell, it was because he absolutely hated the idea of staying in the basement area.

Receiving a text on her phone, Riley glanced at it just as there was a knock on the doorframe to their room. "Hi, party people!" Matt greeted, striding into the room. He gave Riley a kiss on the cheek. Then he dropped onto the floor next to Rhuben and gave her a kiss on the cheek as well. "What's up?"

"When'd you get here?" Rhuben asked.

"Just now. James and I got here just as I heard a cry for help," Matt commented. He looked around the room. "Plus, I wanted to get a good look at the house that we didn't get a fair go to win."

"Hey, we said whoever gets here first has the right to start looking," Riley pointed out with a shrug. "It's in the contract."

"And it's also fucked up that we have to have a contract written for it," Matt said, causing Rhuben to laugh. He rested his hands behind him and crossed his outstretched legs at the ankle. "Who needs a fucking contract to choose a room?"

"Uh, we do. Because none of us like to do things fairly," Rhuben reminded her. "Case in point, deciding chores, playing Poker, and just about every other game that we've ever played." She nodded to Riley. "Just be glad you weren't there for the Hide and Seek fiasco of 2010."

Riley laughed. She remembered the night clearly. Take two bands that had plenty of energy after finishing up a concert, put them back in their hotel rooms, add copious amounts of sugar and alcohol, and an entire hotel to run through and you got the 'Hide and Seek' fiasco of 2010. Chances were they still weren't allowed back at that particular hotel considering the amount of holes that managed to be put into walls and things that had broken while people squeezed them into their hiding spots. (The best was Tom's managing to fit himself into a fridge even with the shelves still inside).

"Outrageous, man!" Matt laughed along with the two. Then he sobered up after a few seconds. "Chances are if I were there I would've gotten us banned from every hotel in that city," Matt commented, running a hand over his dark hair. "I mean, if there were enough TVs around and not enough police to bribe."

"You'll probably never live that down, Mattie," Rhuben said. She looped her arm around his waist and leaned into him, resting her chin on his shoulder. Matt smiled and tilted his head to rest on hers as he put his arm around her shoulders.

"As long as that policewoman doesn't change her mind and decide to arrest me, I'm cool. Though I would get pretty lonely on that tour bus by myself," Matt said wistfully.

"Chances are you wouldn't be alone, mate," Riley commented. She looked at her phone as another text came in. "There'd be plenty of girls backstage after the show that you can get your pick from." She slid her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "Not that girls are only a means for guys to pick from—"

"—yeah, yeah, I've got that lecture enough from my mum," Matt said. Dimples appeared in his cheek as he grinned. "Besides, I wouldn't want to make any of ya ladies jealous."

Rhuben shook her head then blew her purple strand of hair out of her face. "Why don't you two just get together already?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Riley smirked. "According to the tabloids, I'm supposed to be eloping with Danny next week. So my love life is already booked solid." She turned her attention to Matt. "Could you help move my bed? We're trying to maximize the floor space. I'll be back to help but Ronan says he needs me for something."

"Yeah, I've got it," Matt said with a wave of his hand.

"Ace! You're a legend." Riley quickly left the room and hurried down to the main floor and out the front door. Ronan leaned against his car, rubbing his forehead. "You didn't want to just stay and talk in the house?"

"And get suckered into helping you unpack and move? I don't think so," Ronan replied. "Besides, I didn't want Syd to hear and you guys are terrible when it comes to conversation that are supposed to be a secret or a private conversation."

"Just because we hear things—"

"—Hearing things and eavesdropping are two completely different things and you're guilty of both," Ronan said. Riley smiled and shrugged with one shoulder. "Besides, there's some things I've got to finish up and I wouldn't get _anything_ done if I stuck around here. I just wanted to bring this up so you can check out some things for me." Riley waved a hand for him to continue. "Last time around, I was talking to Syd and he was saying that he was thinking of leaving the band. That he wants to be a normal teenager, even take some time off from school because it's been crammed down his throat for so long. He hasn't said anything about it since then, but I wanted to be sure that things were going okay for him. And I want you to be aware of it just in case his mood suddenly starts to take a turn."

Riley looked at her father for exactly one second before saying, "I find it hysterical that he thinks he's the only one who's considered leaving the band."

"You have?" Ronan crossed his arms.

Riley nodded. "Many, _many_ times. And I know I'm not the only one. I've left my friends, left my boyfriends, left my family, left my home…left my everything, really." She shrugged again. "I just never said anything."

"Why?"

"Never wanted to be the one to take it away from the others. Besides, you think I'd be able to live with myself if I left for a boy who may or may not be 'the one'?" She used air quotes around the words, rolling her eyes. "Definitely not, mate. It's easy to focus on the things you think you're missing out on rather than the experiences that are available while on tour, yeah?"

"I assume he's feeling the same way."

"If he's a Jackson…" Riley ran a hand through her hair. Then she let out a long breath and rested her hands atop her head, shielding her face from the sun. "I reckon, Rhu and I have been doing this since we were about…nine? Eleven? So we've been doing this for basically our whole lives and we're _still_ doing it. To the point that everything else falls by the wayside for our careers. Don't get me wrong, I get it; Syd's fifteen and when you're in your teen years you think it's your entire life. But he forgets that even Julius was part of the band before he was so he's not alone in his feelings." Her eyes narrowed a little. "Did you want me to say something to him?"

"Not unless he says something to you, I just wanted you to know. Keep an eye on him?"

"We always do." She paused. "You're doing that thing again."

"What thing?" Ronan's eyebrows came together in confusion.

"When you treat me like your assistant and not your daughter."

"I'm your manager and music producer, you're my client-"

"—and I'm still your daughter." Riley paused, smirking at him. "And don't think we didn't notice that you brought out his girlfriend and you've had nothing for us. You have six kids, you need to be fair."

"Technically, I have seven and a granddaughter. But I have plenty of things to go around. I have surprises for the rest of you. And Anna works for all of you, it's not like she wasn't going to be around sooner or later, I just sped things up a little." He reached out and ruffled Riley's hair. "Just keep an eye on him for me, please? The last thing I need is for something to go wrong this time around."

Riley nodded.

She completely agreed with Ronan. The last thing they needed was for something to go wrong. And if he was really serious about it, that meant she had to look after Dougie a little bit closer. She didn't want him to hit rock bottom again, not after her promise.

* * *

Tom stretched out his blanket over his bed and made sure to tuck in the corners. Once that was finished he turned, placing his hands on his hips as he surveyed his room. It wasn't the one he wanted, Danny, Dougie, and Harry had already claimed the better ones, and he was sure the water heater was going to keep him up all night.

But at least it was different. Being away from London had to be a good change of pace for them this time. More inspiration to write some of the best songs they had ever done. Or do a different sound for McBusted all together. It was something they had to make sure was the number one priority when it was suggested to them; that their sounds wouldn't be like McFly and it wouldn't be like Busted but a completely new sound.

Still, he wished they were going with McFly a little bit longer. There was so much music under McFly they had been ready and waiting to release. But they had seen how excited the fans were when Busted played their shows on the 10th anniversary tour as well as when they, jokingly, came out as McBusted on their three night shows at Royal Albert Hall to play their classic McFly and Busted songs. It went over a lot better than they had thought it would. So much so that when Fletch got the bands together to talk about joining them to be a big superband, they all laughed about it.

Next thing he knew he was moving back to New York to get started on what was going to be a tour, an album, and probably another tour after that. Even his little sister Carrie—who would never admit that she was more of a Busted fan than a McFly fan (at first)—didn't believe it was happening. That is until she promised to go visit him out in New York as much as possible, though he was sure it was because she wanted to see a show on Broadway after he promised to take her to one when they were little. He should've known she wouldn't forget it.

Now surveying his room, Tom ran a hand through his hair and looked at the posters and stuffed animals he had managed to arrange. And that was before he even got to his clothes and belongings that were going to be in the house for as long as they were going to live there. But one look at the multiple suitcases and bags on the floor and he figured it was probably a better idea to set up his guitars before anything else.

 _That's still unpacking,_ he reminded himself.

All he managed to do was take out his acoustic guitars before Dougie burst through the door with Danny running after him. Tom jumped backwards onto his bed and watched as Danny managed to tackle Dougie to the ground and sit on his back. Harry came slowly behind him, holding up his phone as he recorded the encounter.

"Instagram?" Tom asked Harry, who gleefully nodded. "There's enough people who think that we're dating each other, I don't think they need that to try and dispute that." Tom motioned to the floor where Dougie was struggling to push Danny's face away from him while Danny brought his tongue closer and closer to Dougie's cheek to lick it.

"I know, that's why it's so funny," Harry said. He took a picture then lowered the phone from his face.

"What did they do this time?" Tom asked. He laughed, lifting his feet when Danny and Dougie continued to roll across the floor. "I knew it wasn't going to last long, but the peace and quiet was great while it lasted."

"Nothing more than Dougie being annoying as usual," Harry remarked. He lifted his foot and rested it on Danny's back, pushing forward so that Danny rolled over and faced the ceiling. "Mate, you know if you break anything in here Tom's going to have everyone at Disney World run over and murder you."

"Right, if he doesn't do it himself," Danny agreed. He held out his hand and Harry grasped it, pulling him to his feet.

"Ha!" Dougie laughed loudly, still lying on the floor. But now he started to windmill his arms as if he was doing the backstroke in water. "He's been saying that for years and we all know he doesn't even have the strength in his pinkie toe to take any of us down." He lifted his leg like a synchronized swimmer and pointed to Harry. "Have you seen Harry? He's built like a bloody tree."

"Which party?" Danny asked with a grin.

This time Tom couldn't help but laugh along with his friends. His somewhat sour mood was lifted instantly. In the back of his mind he knew it wasn't going to last so long. His good moods haven't lately and he had no idea why. The last time he had been so gloomy was when they were all working on their second album while trying to make it big out in New York. Nearly every day he and his best friends had gotten into a fight about something to small that when things got better he looked back on them and found them so insignificant it was funny. He was afraid things would get back there again.

The water heater suddenly kicked on, making a strange gurgling and clanking sound and Tom couldn't help but jump. He really didn't like that room. He would've preferred a room with a window to the outside, not where the basement was completely darkened save for the door that led to the backyard. He preferred the sunlight and whatever else could be seen out the window for early morning inspiration. Not complete darkness.

"So, placing bets now, when it Tom going to end up in one of our beds?" Danny asked.

"I bet Dougie will be begging to go in someone's bed first," Tom defended himself.

"I don't know, you tend to get pretty skittish when it's dark," Harry said. He rubbed his chin and looked down at Dougie, who was now kicking and spinning in circles along the carpet. "But Doug is the one who's the most scared." The four jumped at the sound of a loud thump coming from above their heads before loud voices followed it as well.

They went upstairs and found James and Matt trying to push a large box in through the front door while Patrick and Noah had a grasp on the flap on the outside and was trying to pull it in. Sydney, Anna, Riley, and Rhuben stood and sat on the stairs, watching them. Tom started to warn them but stopped as the flap that Patrick and Noah were holding onto suddenly ripped, sending the two tumbling to the floor with a pile of clothes falling on top of them.

"Oy! Would you look at that?" Danny pointed at the clothes that the twin boys pushed aside as they sat up. "James actually has more than five shirts!"

"Haha." James poked his head up around the box. "I'm actually living here, when you're on tour you're not supposed to bring too much stuff or it'll bog you down."

"No, it's your BO that bogs us down, mate," Patrick pointed out. "It's why you were eventually kicked off the bus until we hosed you down with a hose."

"That was because he wouldn't shower so much," Noah pointed out. "Not that he didn't do a lot of washing."

"His excuse is that he lets his girlfriend to the washing for him," Matt commented. "And because he doesn't have a girlfriend, he doesn't do it."

"Oh please," Rhuben commented, making note of the sexism of the comment.

"It's not like you weren't willing to try and get anyone to help you move your stuff so you wouldn't have to do it," Sydney reminded them.

"That's not sexist, that's taking advantage of a situation," Riley defended herself. "What's sexist is _expecting_ a girl to do your laundry for you, because she's a girl."

"Just like you're insinuating that it's a man's job," Sydney continued calmly. "Much like laundry is a woman's job, so that's sexist."

"Oh, really? Well, I'm sorry."

"So'm I," James agreed. "I'll learn how to do my own laundry. When on tour I usually just buy more clothes whenever we get to a new city." He tapped himself on the forehead. "That's smart."

"Or it's just plain pathetic," Tom remarked.

Matt reached out and slapped James on the shoulder. "In his case, always go with the latter." He picked up the bottom of the box and upended it onto Patrick's and Noah's laps before pushing the rest of the box into the house, having to kick it a few times before it finally popped free. Once it was inside he dusted his hands together. "So, what's for dinner?"

"Mate, it's only noon," Harry pointed out.

"Yeah and by the time we get all of this stuff and unpacked, considering how sidetracked we all get, it's going to take hours," Matt said.

"Send for takeaway and charge it to Jake and Masquerade Records," Sydney suggested. He grinned evilly. "If they're paying for the house they can pay for our first night here, too." Anna swatted him on the arm and his smile deepened. "I know the number to his card if we need to do it over the phone."

"It's times like these I wonder if you'll ever use your talents for good instead of evil," Patrick said.

"Where's the fun in that?"

Tom laughed. He motioned for Sydney to follow him into the kitchen. "We'll grab a couple of menus and decide what we want from where. And while you're at it you can reassure me that you weren't the one that racked up a massive charge on my card for those magazine subscriptions."

"I can just about guarantee it was Danny," Sydney said as he followed them.

"Why's that?" Tom asked.

"Because I'm pretty sure your name isn't spelled 'Thom Fleitcher' and Danny can hardly tie his own shoes," Sydney remarked.

Tom laughed again, grabbing a bunch of menus off the refrigerator. There was plenty to choose from and while his stomach growled looking them over, he knew he wasn't going to eat anything.

* * *

 **A/N:** I didn't expect it to take this long for another update but here you go! Hope you enjoy it!

 **~Riley**


	3. Chapter 3

"This place looks good."

James looked up at the sign that spelled out the name of the coffee shop, then laughed a little bit. "Oh yeah, I've been here tons of times." Tom looked at him funny and James shrugged. "I spent a lot of time drinking coffee when working on musicals and stuff, that doesn't mean that I actually remember anything from those nights." He paused for a minute, the smile never leaving his face. "Other than how often I had to pee and being confused when I woke up in storage closets and mop buckets."

"You sure that was from pulling long nights?"

"No, that was from the beer. I'm just saying I don't remember much other than that. But those are some of my best memories here." The two laughed and Tom led the way into the coffee shop. He hung back for a second, glancing over the pastries that sat in the glass case by the door. He hadn't expected there to so much…good stuff there. He hoped it was really just going to be coffee.

Of course his luck was never that good.

Tom thought about going to a different coffee shop, maybe even suggesting Starbucks, but James was already going over to a booth, taking off his jacket as he did so. Tom grimaced as he glanced at the pit-stains underneath his friends' arms, sliding into the seat across from him. James noticed his look and subconsciously held his arms to his sides.

"We already had this conversation, man; I'm slowly learning how to do my laundry, okay?"

"You're doing better than you had been a week ago," Tom pointed out. He slouched low in the booth, pulling his beanie down over his hair. He tried not to notice how thin his hair felt between his fingers as he did so. Clearing his throat, Tom shoved his hands into the front pocket of his sweatshirt. "The pile of clothes in your room is starting to actually starting not to smell as much."

"Fuck off." James laughed. He stopped long enough to give their waitress his order; an Earl Gray Tea with three doughnuts.

Tom hesitated as the waitress turned his way. He really didn't want to have much of anything but at the same time, he couldn't _not_ have anything or else James would start to ask questions. So…he had the willpower to order and not eat it. It didn't cost that much anyway, he could part with only a few dollars. So he ordered a Mocha Latte with a cream cheese bagel.

"So is it weird for you to be back here in New York?" Tom asked once the waitress walked away. "I mean, you lived here for years once Busted ended. But now that you're back Busted is back together, sort of, and now McBusted is going to be a thing."

James shrugged, tapping his fingertips against the tabletop. "Not really. New York's really become my home since I've been here. Sometimes I forget that I even grew up in England, you know?" He grinned at Tom. "I'm sure you feel that way about Disney World."

"I mean, I don't get dolls and toys sent to me for no reason, mate," Tom replied.

Ever since he first laid eyes on the advert for Disney World he knew he wanted nothing more than to go there for a trip. It helped that Carrie had the same sort of enthusiasm for the park, their family going for vacations and their father's birthday nearly every year. Then he, James, and Danny took a trip to Florida shortly after McFly had signed their record deal—leaving Harry and Dougie behind as they had to learn the backlog of their songs and couldn't go. And since then, Tom used nearly every excuse he could to go back there.

It was where he went after working on _Wonderland_ and it really recharged his batteries and creativity for the band after a bad mood he had found himself in. This time around there didn't seem like anything was going to be keep Tom in a good mood. As excited as he was for McBusted he was also very tired. He couldn't get the thought of impending doom out of his head as pessimistic as it was. Harry was back and stronger than ever but the negativity from those few fans that continued to express frustration of not knowing _why_ they had to cancel and reschedule so many shows was palpable.

They understood their need for privacy and Danny consistently reminded him not to worry so much about what the naysayers were posting—having caught Tom looking at negative posts on social media more than once. But it was a drug sometimes, an addictive drug that did nothing but make things worse.

"Sort of wish we were staying there instead of here," Tom said after a minute. A small smile came onto his face. "I think I do some of my best writing after experiencing the most magical place on Earth."

"You know, you'd be surprised how many people would worry about the things you say if they overhear you," James pointed out.

"I've already got Danny _and_ Dougie on my ass about that, mate, thanks." Tom laughed.

James laughed with him. "Seriously, though, I like the way things feel here. It's like anything can happen. Especially at night, with all of the lights and everything. As cliché as that is. But I've seen a lot of everything else in this city, the gray and dreary days, times where people are rude, where it doesn't seem like things are as bright and shiny as they expect it to be and I love that just as much."

"Oh yeah, that sounds like London to me," Tom agreed. He sniffed, changing the subject. Anything so that it didn't turn back to him like he thought it would. "So you're not afraid to run into Gabriela here?"

"Are you afraid of running into Gen?"

Tom frowned.

Damn.

He hadn't really thought that through. Well, it was a safe topic. Safer than any others. And he was sure the other guys were starting to become really annoyed with him _not_ talking about it as much as he really wanted to. Mostly because they knew how much of an emotional softie Tom tended to be. It must've been weird for him to keep quiet for so long. The last thing he wanted to do was be teased when he explained the last conversation he had with her.

"Not really," he said slowly. It wasn't entirely the truth but he was getting there. "I mean, I expect to see her since she's one of Riley's and Rhuben's best friends. And we always get along." He shrugged, leaning back as the waitress handed them their drinks and food. Tom's stomach growled, he couldn't keep his eyes off of James's tower of doughnuts, feeling envy as his friend immediately grabbed one and took a large bite. "It's just hard to know that we're good for each other and not be able to do anything about it."

"You really know that?"

"I've known that since I met her. We get along really well; have the same values, similar hopes and dreams. We don't fight much other than a few times." Tom smiled to himself. The argument really had stemmed from stress and frustration from being on tour. Tom had a particularly bad night on stage and Gen was tired of being on tour and homesick and they eventually started to take it out on each other. It was startling at first as no one had really seen Gen lose her composure the way she had, but then again, no one had ever really seen Tom get so angry either.

They eventually apologized over the whole thing and made up…but things were a little strained before they were _fully_ better again. Them ultimately breaking up had been of an uncertain future—of when Tom would be back in North America and not knowing when Gen would be in England—and while they weren't on terrible terms things were different. Especially asking about her boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend as it could be. He still wasn't quite sure.

"And?"

"And she put an immediately stop to things when we were talking the last time we were on tour." Tom shrugged. He picked up his bagel and took a large bite, licking cream cheese off the corner of his mouth. "The only thing I can do is—"

"—Wait?" James broke in.

"Innit a bit pathetic?"

"I don't think so. Then again, _you're_ the one who's all about the magic of life and everything." James smiled good naturedly. "The rest of us just live in it and bask in our envy." He finished his first doughnut and immediately started into the second one, taking large bites.

"Not much to be envious about mate, as a matter of fact I'm envious of you. No matter what you touch, musically, you strike gold. How many people your age can say that they've been in a massive band, started a few others, wrote songs for some of the biggest people, including the Backstreet Boys, and has his own musical that's about to start on West End?" James tried to smile modestly, but Tom could see the childlike enthusiasm that shifted through his face. "if you weren't so busy I'd start to wonder if we could catch any fish anytime soon."

"Right? A song about a meeting in a coffee shop, maybe?"

"Or else we could actually go fishing. Maybe our luck would strike us there, too."

"I'm lousy at fishing."

"So'm I."

Tom waited for James to continue but he didn't. He was good at clamming up on things that didn't interest him to talk about. It was no wonder he kept out of the public eye so much when Busted stopped. It didn't help that all anyone wanted to talk about was the rumors of the feud between him and Charlie. It wasn't so much of a feud as they just didn't talk. Then when he was in Son of Dork, despite how well the band did, it wasn't as good as Busted did so people continued to ask his opinion on that. New York he was a nobody but he had seen how successful McFly had been under Jake and found it to be a good place to go.

For McBusted, on the other hand, it was just going to bring up even more questions about Charlie. They dealt with it the best they could while Busted supported McFly on their 10th anniversary tour, but for two bands to come together to play their old hits, it started up again.

Yes, New York was the best place that any of them could be at the moment.

Tom reached for his napkin and wiped off his fingers. He picked up his latte and took a sip, pausing midway through when he looked at the crumpled napkin on the table. The _empty_ crumpled napkin where his bagel had just been. His very large bagel that was currently sitting in his gut, weighing him down more than it should've.

Tom's throat suddenly felt very dry. A lump formed in his throat and he immediately felt a wave of self-loathing come over him. He was supposed to be going on tour, supposed to get in shape, supposed to stay in shape. And he was already starting to ruin all of his hard work.

"Um, I'll be right back." Tom slid out of the booth and speed-walked to the bathroom. He made sure no one was in there before he flung himself towards the toilet, sticking his fingers down his throat.

His stomach muscles immediately clenched and he pulled his fingers out from his mouth before he projectile vomited into the toilet. When the spasms that rocked his body subsided, Tom spat into the toilet before flushing. He turned away and left the stall, immediately going to the sink to wash out his mouth. He looked at his reflection; no red eyes, no tears from the force of puking, his skin wasn't too pale—he had learned recently how bad that had gotten when he wasn't too careful—and he would get a Gatorade once he got back to the house for the electrolytes he just missed out on.

Tom left the bathroom and went back to the table, sitting down. He glanced up as James said, "Did you want to get anything else. Those doughnuts were good."

"No, I'm full," Tom said quickly.

James's eyebrows came together as he studied Tom. Watched as his eyes shifted back and forth, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. Watched as he rubbed at his forehead before rifling through some bills, dropping it onto the table for the bill without looking to see what it was. Watched as Tom put the wallet back into his pocket and rubbed his forehead again before lacing his fingers together and resting his elbows on the table to look out the window.

Acting anything like the best friend that James had gotten to know over the last ten, eleven years. When he first met Tom there was an instant friendly connection between the two with similar tastes in music and the other important things that make teens friends with each other, but mostly music. Then they found their sense of humor to be very similar and despite James's initial disappointment that Tom wasn't going to be in his band they stayed friends and wrote together.

Busted and McFly wouldn't be what they were if it weren't for their friendship. Of course not to have an ego about it, but James truly believed that. Now, watching as Tom acted as anything but his best friend sense James into a feeling of unease. It wasn't something as obvious as others would think it would be; there were only a few things that were different about him but it was enough.

Tom stressed more than he usually did, started to become a little bit more secretive, always had an answer for everything, and at times would become lost in his own thoughts. Rather than being the open, sensitive, and emotionally fun-loving guy James knew.

Instead of pushing on the subject, James let it slide. As he always did. He was never a truly confrontational person and knew if it _really_ was bad, he would say something. But it wasn't that bad was it?

"We should get going or else we'll have Fletch on our asses," James said instead. "I know Matt and I haven't been around him a lot lately but I did _not_ miss getting a lecture from him."

"Mate, you don't know a lecture until you have Fletch reaming at your for smoking pot. I swear I'll never forget that day, I'll _never_ touch the stuff again."

 _If that's the reason why,_ James thought. Instead he smiled and nodded and left money on the table for the bill and tip. The two left the coffee shop, shoving their hands into the coats of their pockets as the wind picked up. It was a clear day, as sunny as they could want, but the wind chill immediately brought it down again.

James smiled as they walked along. Everyone they passed seemed to be in a good mood, as lively as the city ever was. People were yelling greetings back and forth to each other as well as giving information on shows and gallery openings that were going on. A group of thin, lithe figures moved by, James easily recognizing them as dancers from the bags thrown over their shoulders and the headshots held tightly in their hands. Others were definitely tourists, from the excitement they had looked back and forth across the street as well as from the slight confusion on their faces, glancing at street signs.

And James loved it all.

He needed excitement.

He needed things going on.

He didn't like to be stagnant, which was also why he jumped on the chance of doing McBusted. Chances were that no one was going to take them seriously, but it was a new venture and it sounded like it was going to be fun, hanging out with his best mates for as long as it took. But being _one_ band and working on their music in a new way to incorporate that. As a musician it was more exciting to learn new intricacies of music than to sit back and listen to the final product.

Suddenly struck by inspiration, James grabbed onto Tom's sweatshirt sleeve and dragged the two into a music store they were passing by. The cashier looked up and nodded towards them. "What can I do for you guys?" He asked.

"That keyboard in the window," James said. He pointed over his shoulder. "I want it."

"That's not just any keyboard, dude, it's got a synthesizer in it," the cashier explained.

"Even better." James pulled out his credit card. The cashier looked at him for a long moment before going over to the window to lift it up. Even Tom couldn't help but admire it when it was carefully placed on the counter so the two could look it over.

To the untrained eye it looked like a regular, red, keyboard. But to a musician's eye it was a dream. Untouched and with every possible upgrade a musician could imagine from a piano. "How much?"

"About $5000 before tax."

Tom's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. He made a gasping sound like a fish out of water while James grinned and slapped his credit card down to purchase it.

"Mate!" Tom nearly screeched. "Did you hear how much that costs?"

"Yeah, I thought it was going to be more than that."

Then Tom's face cleared and James held his breath, already knowing that some sort of a lecture was coming. One thing James could give him credit for, he was really good at being responsible when he needed to be. One minute Tom was giggling like a school girl over farts and burps and the next minute he was as serious as a heart attack, giving advice as easily as he could be a bit of a nag.

"Mate, are you sure that's a good idea?"

James crossed his arms. He was going to give a truth bomb, something he didn't particularly like doing, but at least it would give some insight. "My girlfriend of the last seven years just broke up with me, I might be working with a former band mate who I'm not sure hates me or not, and we only have a couple of months to get all new music out to fill a tour let alone an album. I think it's fine if I buy this bloody keyboard."

At that Tom held his hands up, effectively keeping himself out of the situation.

James knew he'd understand.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know I have two Tom-centered chapters in a row, but what I really like about Tom and James (in real life) is their friendship. They're two people that I would see to have completely opposite personalities in some ways, but to be exactly the same in others and seeing their constant support of each other through both bands is always fun to see. Even if it was a bit angsty in this one.

But this time around I do have plots for each characters that tend to weave in and our with each other so everyone gets focus.

 **~Riley**


	4. Chapter 4

"Are we supposed to be getting the store brand or the actual brand?" Danny asked. He shifted two jars of peanut butter back and forth in his hands.

"How should I know?" Dougie hunched over a shopping cart, raising his eyebrows. "I just like to eat food; I don't bloody care where it comes from." He paused, resting his chin in his hand, blue eyes scanning the labels of them. "Just get both, it's not like we're running low on money."

Danny shrugged and tossed them both into his cart. He and Dougie left the grocery aisle and started towards the next one, stopping quickly when Sydney, sitting in the cart Patrick was pushing and Noah was walking in front of with a list in his hands, came flying around the corner.

Seconds later Rhuben came out of the aisle pushing a cart that Riley was sitting in, cereal boxes resting across her lap. "You're breaking formation!" Rhuben called as she went.

"You're walking too slow," Noah called back.

"Careful, love, you don't want to blow your pretty head up and get blood all over the food," Danny warned her.

With a sigh, Rhuben leaned forward, resting her arms on the handle bar of her kart. "Anything to keep you lot from eating it all. I already have to hide my Fruit-by-the-foot just do Dougie doesn't sniff around them."

"Have you told James and Matt your rules for them living with you, yet?" Dougie's eyes lit up as he beamed. He chuckled to himself and started to lean over his cart, looking to see if he could find the Busted members. "I hope not. I can't wait to see what happens when the make that mistake."

Riley laughed. "Is Tom still not over how we growled at him?"

"Definitely not," Danny agreed. "That's one of the first things he tells people when they ask about living with you." He couldn't help but laugh, either. Apart from the house rules that they had put into place and signed contracts for, Danny thought it was hysterical how seriously the Jacksons took possession of their food. One of the first days they had lived together, only when they had become friends enough to move in together—Tom had made the mistake of trying to eat some of the popcorn that the Jacksons had made.

The next thing he knew, he had five raven-haired siblings all growling at him as he quickly pulled his hand back before they ate the rest of the kernels that sat in the bowl. After that they found certain things in the refrigerator would be wrapped up and had a name or an initial written on it. Eventually the McFly boys ended up adopting that practice as well, keeping each other from snacking on their own food by labeling them when it was needed. It worked out very well, once they got over the time they accidentally ate a cake that Fletch had stashed there for a work function.

But how were they to know it was for them when he had dropped by at a time that they had been out and just said 'don't eat the cake' on a note that could've _easily_ and accidentally been knocked aside.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you get between one of us and food," Riley said. She reached out and smacked Dougie's hand as he tried reaching for the boxes of cereal that sat around her.

"And you're supposed to be the mature ones," Danny pointed out.

Rhuben smiled sweetly. "That's just it, Dan. We're just more mature than you." With a laugh, she continued pushing the cart forward to follow her brothers, with Riley reaching out to grab boxes of popcorn as she passed.

Danny laughed and he and Dougie went to meet up with Tom and Harry to be sure they had everything on their lists together before everyone went to the check out. Once arriving in the frozen food section Dougie started to run around, grabbing as many pints of ice cream and frozen food dinners he could get his hands on.

"Do you think these are cold enough for my tongue to get stuck?" He asked, opening a door to get another flavor or ice cream."

"I don't think its cold enough to get your tongue stuck, but it's definitely making your nipples stand out," Danny said. He turned Dougie around and laughed, pointing at the pin-pricks on the front of his t-shirt. Dougie started to laugh as well, reaching his hand up to gently brush against them.

Their laughter attracted Tom and Harry, who found them in the frozen food aisle. "And people wonder why I sometimes become embarrassed by you lot," Tom commented. Danny glanced at him, eyebrows coming together. He couldn't help but notice how flat Tom's voice was. Normally he would've started laughing with all of them. Finally, he cracked a small smile, shaking his head. "What are you doing?"

"Getting a buttered nipple," Dougie explained.

Harry burst out laughing.

"Did you get everything on your list?" Tom asked.

"Yep, we got everything. _And_ we got your favorite." Danny reached into Dougie's cart and pulled out a pint of ice cream and waved it under Tom's nose like a hot pastry. "Nutella, ice cream."

"Thanks, but I don't want it," Tom said. He pushed the ice cream back to him.

Harry blinked in surprise and Danny frowned. "Mate, that's, like, your greatest love in life."

"Not anymore," Tom said. His eyes narrowed when Danny pushed the ice cream back in his face. "Dan! Stop it!" He slapped the ice cream back into the cart with a hard strike to Danny's hand.

Danny's blue eyes widened. "Geez, Tom, I think you need to cut back on whatever continues to put that stick up your butt. I know you get stressed when we're supposed to be working on our band stuff, but you really need to lighten up, mate."

"Oh! I know!" Dougie grabbed onto his cart and raced it down the aisle, making car sounds with his mouth as he went. Tom rolled his eyes and followed behind him, almost grudgingly as he pushed his half-filled cart along, compared to the others' carts which were fully. Danny followed behind Dougie and went into the alcohol aisle, watching as Dougie put six-pack after six-pack into his cart.

"Mate, are you planning a party?" Harry asked.

"I hope not," Tom said. The corner of his mouth turned up. "I don't think any of us want to wake up with a horde of raccoons in our house again."

"That only happened because someone was dumb enough to leave the back door open," Harry said. "Lock everything up and we'll be fine." He snickered, and then his eyes landed on the amount of wine Dougie as now putting into his cart. "Mate, you think you've got enough there?"

"You're acting like I'm going to be drinking it myself," Dougie pointed out. But he paused in his movements, suddenly looking very stricken. He muttered an apology to Harry, tightening his grasp on the handlebar, his knuckles turning white.

"Hey, don't worry about it, man. It's not like I'm going to keep everyone else from drinking," Harry said. He put his arm around Dougie's shoulders and pulled him into his body, patting him lovingly.

"You may as well," Tom pointed out. "Out of everyone only me, Dougie, Danny, and James drink. I mean, we don't want to tempt you or anything."

Harry frowned. "I just came out of a coma, why would I do it again?"

Danny shrugged. "Alcoholism is something that's hard to get over. You say, now, that you'll never drink again but…" He trailed off, noticing all of the eyes turned his way. "I'm not saying I don't believe you Harry, because I do." Danny sighed, resting his arms on the handlebar of his cart. He tapped himself on the chest. "In here, I do. But here,"—he tapped his temple—"I'm not so sure."

"Why? Because you only have four brain cells left?" Dougie quipped.

Tom glared at him.

"No, because that's what my dad always said. And the next thing I knew, he'd be rolling through the front door. If he ever came home at all." He tried not to think about how his father had come to some of the shows their last tour, about what he had said, about how he had started to show up more often, get into contact with Danny again…

It was especially hard knowing the reason behind it but not saying anything. Not because he didn't trust everyone else to tell them but because he needed time to process it. He needed to speak to his mother and his sister and needed to figure out what was the best thing to do. _Just as long as he's not in New York, I'm okay,_ he reminded himself. The distance would make it easier for him to figure out what to do.

"Well, none of us have dad bods yet," Dougie said. "So we're not going to be rolling anywhere."

"Hey! Are you guys done?" Sydney rounded the corner, pushing a completely filled cart with long strides while his brothers walked casually along beside him, not offering him any help despite how obviously difficult it was to move the carts forward. "Because I'm getting bloody tired of this."

"You just need to bulk up, bro," Patrick commented. He slapped his good-naturedly on the shoulder. "Besides, I think we got the better end of the deal. Do _you_ want to be back home having to eat James's and Matt's attempts at cooking breakfast?"

"Why do you think we decided that we _had_ to go to grocery shopping as soon as we woke up this morning?" Riley asked. She smirked, tilting her head. "So we could have other foods to sneak when they're not looking, yeah?" She smacked Dougie's hand out of hers and Rhuben's cart, noticing he was going for her bag of pull-n-peel twizzlers. "Dougs, I'm warning you—"

"What? Are you going to do bad, bad things to me if I keep acting up?" Dougie asked with a cheeky smile.

Riley smirked back and patted his face. "You wish," she said.

"I do!"

Rhuben smiled and put her arm around Dougie's shoulder, resting their heads against each other. He smiled and exaggeratedly rubbed his cheek against her head until she asked, "Does murder count?"

Dougie made a squeaking sound and stepped away from her, hiding behind Dougie, holding him tightly. Harry reached up and patted his hand comfortingly. Not wanting to be left out, Danny reached out and grabbed onto Tom's hand, clamping his grasp down when Tom immediately started to wiggle away.

"Alright, let's go to check out," Danny practically sang at the top of his lungs, grabbing the attention of an older couple nearby, who frowned in disapproval at the group of friends as they burst out laughing.

Tom mimed kicking Danny in the balls, making Danny immediately move his hands to protect himself before backing way. He shot Tom the finger, who returned it with a merry laugh before walking off. Then he jumped, realizing that Rhuben was suddenly standing next to him. Let out a strangled cry, he pressed his hand on his chest, draping himself over his cart.

"God, are you ever going to stop doing that?" He asked her.

Rhuben's eyes flashed with amusement. "And deny myself the chance to see you jump like that? I don't think so."

"You always did have a knack for torturing me," Danny said.

"Last I checked you seemed to enjoy it, yeah?"

"I had your attention, didn't I?" Danny flashed a flirtatious smile and Rhuben turned her head, rolling her eyes. Then she reached out and placed her hand on Danny's shoulder, pulling him to a stop.

"And now you have mine," she said.

Danny's smile widened. "In that case, I was thinking we could go to that restaurant Dovetail on W 77th."

Her eyes widened. "That super expensive one? I don't think so."

"They've got good cocktails from what I hear."

"I don't drink."

"Good _mocktails_ then."

"Dan."

Danny moved his lower jaw to the side. He pursed his lips, starting to walk to the checkout with everyone else. "It's nothing," he said slowly, knowing immediately she didn't believe him. "I'm just thinking of how things are going to move forward being out here with my dad being back there…you know?"

"I know the feeling," Rhuben said. She moved her hand from her his shoulder to his wrist and squeezed it gently. "I reckon not _exactly_ the same. But I worry about Julius whenever we're not there and my Daddy Teak isn't doing so well."

"Is this the part where you tell me that you're here for me to talk to?" Danny tilted his head. "Because that's not what I'm hoping to hear. For some late night cuddles, maybe. An affectionate kiss here or there…"

Now Rhuben laughed. "How do you always manage to turn conversations like that?"

He winked at her. "I learned from the best." All of a sudden he let out a grunt as the cart rammed into his stomach. Rhuben jumped backwards, wincing when Danny, not paying attention to where he was going, walked straight into a drink cooler just by the cash registers. The loud thud immediately brought his friend's attention and they started to laugh at them. Danny backed away from his cart and crouched on the ground, rubbing his stomach.

"Piece of advice, Danny," Rhuben said, crouching down next to him. She gave him a kind smile though he could tell she was trying her hardest not to bust out laughing. "Considering the wreckage I've seen you do to your guitars…keep an eye on where you're going."

She backed away and traded places with Riley at the register.

Riley walked over to Danny and held out a large bag. "Ice?" She asked.

Danny nodded and reached up. He grabbed the bag of ice and pressed it against his stomach.

How ironic.

* * *

Jacqui stopping around as Gen lowered her phone from her ear. "What say you pretty lady? Are they on their way?"

Gen smiled at her friend, putting her phone back into her pocket. "Syd says they'll be back in about twenty minutes but James and Matt are here so we can just go in." She nodded to Jacqui and waited. Jacqui didn't move and Gen's eyebrows came together. "What are you waiting for?"

"I'm pretty sure at some point they may have rigged the front door with a prank," Jacqui said. She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "And I really don't want this to be the first one that I've managed to walk into." She caught Gen's eye and the two laughed, remembering the countless sleepless nights in hotels, band houses, vacations, and past tours of the pranks they had all managed to pull on each other.

Though Jacqui was sure nothing would ever beat the one she managed to fill an entire hotel room with soap bubbles and hidden food coloring packets. Sure, there was a hefty cleaning bill that came with it and yes there was a pretty good chance her idea came from too many sources of sugar and the evil whisperings of the Jacksons goading her to do it.

"Just open the door," Gen said, nudging Jacqui in front of her.

"You just want to use me as a shield," Jacqui accused her.

"You're an amazon, of course I want you to go in front of me."

The two girls entered the house, loudly calling out to anyone who would answer. Jacqui placed her hands on her hips, turning in a quick circle, looking around. "How is it that they keep getting better and better places but still want to live with us?"

"Because we're irresistible?" Gen suggested.

"A house filled with _men_ and they want to live with _us_ ," Jacqui repeated.

"Sometimes I wonder how you manage to function when your mind isn't on guys, Harry Potter, or Disney. But if it weren't for all of those things you wouldn't be you and my life would be very boring."

"With a certain blonde maybe—"

"Don't, Jac, or else I'd have to mention a certain blonde and _you_."

Jacqui held up her hands. That wasn't a conversation she wanted to have, either. Surprisingly. "Touché." She walked towards the kitchen. "Hello?" She called loudly.

"Hello," James repeated in a falsetto, meant to match Jacqui's, but sounded more like a crude impersonation of Julia Child. He turned from the counter, where he chopped pieces of fruit. "My friends!"

"You seem to be in a really good mood, James," Gen commented. She strolled over to him and started to give him a hug, then backed away as he waved a knife towards her. "Once you're unarmed it'll be okay. Unless you're packing a stink bomb or something."

"It's a little early to get into pranking season, innit?" James replied. He dropped his knife onto the cutting board and wrapped her in a hug. Then turned and gave Jacqui one as well. Matt, who stood at the stove, waved at the two with a spatula.

"I'd give you a hug too, but I need to watch this for a few more minutes," he said.

"Matthew James Willis, is that an apron I see you wearing?" Jacqui tugged at the frilly, pink apron covering the front of his black t-shirt and black jeans. "Very manly, it brings out the color in your eyes."

"It should cover all of the vomit stains from everyone once they start eating your food, too," James said. He laughed teasingly and ducked out of the way when Matt grabbed a grape and tossed it at his head. James mimed puking making the girls laugh. "Breakfast should be ready in a few minutes if you're hungry."

"After you told us how lethal it is?" Gen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll have to excuse my friend here; he's just gotten out of a long relationship and doesn't know how to flirt anymore." Matt patted him on the shoulder then smacked James on the forehead with the back of the spatula.

"Aww." Jacqui pouted.

"It's not that sad, believe me." Matt paused. "Or maybe, it is."

Gen and Jacqui laughed, perching themselves at the counter. The four laughed and talked with each other until the front door opened and their friends trooped inside, gathering their bags of food together to be put up. Riley and Rhuben beamed and headed to greet their best friends, but Sydney literally beat them to it, pushing them out of the way.

"Me first!" He grinned and gave Gen a big hug, making her laugh and hug him just as tightly. Jacqui smiled, shaking her head. Ever since the two had met Sydney really had become attached to Gen, consistently asking about her when she wasn't around. If she hadn't known any better she would say that Syd had a crush on her at some point. And it might've been true, though she didn't know for sure considering how long his sisters had said he'd been seeing his girlfriend.

Jacqui then turned to Noah and opened her arms for a hug. "You just going to stand there?" A light flush came to Noah's cheeks but he gave her a hug just as well. "Is it possible? You got taller and more handsome." Patrick narrowed his eyes in a glare and made a show of slamming a cereal box onto the kitchen table. Jacqui laughed. "You too, Patrick. Don't get jealous."

"Thank you."

He hugged the two girls and continued to put up the rest of the food, lobbing it towards Noah, who quickly put them in the pantry along with the McFly boys, who ducked out of the way of getting hit by flying packages. Jacqui greeted the rest of her friends with warm hugs. Second to last was Harry, she gave him a long hug, rubbing his back.

"How're you feeling?" She asked him.

Harry shrugged, running a hand over his hair. "I feel great, but I don't feel 100%. I'm sure things'll be fine soon. I can't wait to start drumming and working out again. But the doctors want me to take that easy, too."

"Knowing you, I don't think that's possible," Jacqui said. She reached out and gently stroked Harry's cheek, making him smile. "I'm glad you're okay." Then she moved onto Dougie and hugged him, unable to help but spit when some of his hair got into her mouth. "Wow, you really let your hair down. Literally."

"I figured it was about time I let my good looks speak for themselves," Dougie said. He used a hair-tie to pull his hair back into a ponytail then fluttered his eyelashes. "What do you think?"

Jacqui blushed. "Definitely model material to me."

"That's what I've been saying," Riley called. She sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for the girls to do so as well. She picked up a deck of cards and shuffled them together, starting to pass them out as the bands formed teams to play Poker. "But you know he never listens to me."

"It's because he's a masochist," Tom pointed out. "Getting pleasure from pain."

Riley's eyebrows came together. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"Not at all," Gen agreed.

"Yeah, your journal just reads 'I hate life, I hate life, I hate life, fuck you, I hate life, I hate life, I hate life, fuck you, too, I hate life, I hate life, that boy is cute, I hate life, I hate life, I hate life, kill me." Sydney commented, making everyone, including Riley laugh. Dimples appeared in his cheeks, pleased his joke went over well. "No, sis, you're not that bad at all and if anyone thinks that they're nuts. Dougie's just that annoying."

Dougie, not annoyed by the teasing, rested his chin on Riley's shoulder to look at their playing cards. She smiled, focusing on her cards again. Matt and James finally finished cooking and handed out plates of food before picking up their own cards to join the game.

"Don't you think it's a bit early to start betting?" Gen asked. She crossed her legs at the knee, draping a napkin over her lap before digging in. "Not that I'm not curious to see the outcome."

"Not when you're trying to figure out who's going to be the first to do the cleanup," Patrick said. He shifted back and forth from his plate of food, leaning into his twin's side and back to eat. Noah glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, visibly annoyed by the slurping sounds in his ear.

"We tried to get Riles and Rhubes to do it, but—"Noah stopped talking and shuddered, looking over his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked, noticing the sudden change in his demeanor.

"I got a chill like mum was standing behind me or something," Noah muttered.

"Nah, it's probably just the glares that Ri and Rhu are sending you across the table," Sydney teased.

"Mm. Well, just in case…" Patrick cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled towards the ceiling, "Go to the light, mum, go to the light!" He waited a second and shrugged at the silence. "She went to the light."

Everyone laughed.

Jacqui slouched in her seat, braving a few bites of James' and Matt's food—it wasn't as bad as everyone said it would be—and stretched out her legs under the table. She felt her foot bump against something and leaned over to see she had placed her foot against Dougie's. Sitting up, she started to bring her foot back but stopped when she felt another bump on it and risked another glance.

Dougie has moved his foot so that it rested atop hers.

Jacqui looked at him and he flicked his eyes from the cards in Riley's hands to her. Their eyes locked and the corner of Dougie's lips lifted before his face became stoic again.

Jacqui looked away.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, you started without me."

Noah looked up from a bowl of eggs he briskly whisked and watched as Dougie shuffled into the kitchen. He yawned, moving a hand to cover his face but Noah couldn't duck his head out of the way in time. The putrid smell reached his nose and he retched, taking a step back.

Noah's nose wrinkled as he asked, "Are you hungover?"

"No. I'm just tired." Dougie dropped down onto a stool and rested his face in his hands. "It's not fun when you have Tom forcing you to wake up to make breakfast. I already knew that, but having him slam his fist on the wall right by your head, that's even worse, mate." He yawned again.

"Yeah, well, we have to get to the record company and I didn't want to wait much longer," Noah said. He finished whisking the eggs and plopped the bowl in front of Dougie. "Do you think you can handle making some scrambled eggs?"

Dougie stared at the bowl for a second, his upper lip curling. "I don't know, I feel like I'm going to puke," he remarked.

Noah took a breath. "So, you _are_ hungover."

"No, I didn't drink too much last night. It's just the smell of my breath that's getting to me." He dragged his tongue along his teeth. "I guess I didn't brush my teeth before going to bed last night."

Noah laughed. "That's gross."

"That's what happens when you're trying not to go to sleep," Dougie replied. "I haven't been sleeping very well lately."

"Well, that explains why there's always a TV on at all hours of the night." Noah crossed his arms and flicked his hair from his face. He turned back to the skillet that sat behind him, watching the steam rise from it. Then he turned back to Dougie. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Nope," Dougie said simply.

Noah understood that.

He probably understood Dougie better than most other people. They were so similar. Both were the quietest amongst their friends and family, both were very introverted with the capabilities to appear were extroverted when around people they were comfortable with, and both didn't mind it despite other people thinking they needed that 'push' to open up more. They never particularly liked to talk much, not wanting to have what they said misconstrued or to be teased about it and were the ones that spoke the least when in a group setting.

Not to mention that Noah still struggled a bit with selective mutism, something he developed when under the abuse of his former foster father. Sometimes there were things he really wanted to say but found that his vocal chords wouldn't allow him to do it. Still, he found a way to communicate through typing out texts on his phone, simple gestures with his head or facial expression, if not resorting to sign language. Of which he taught himself and then taught his siblings to continue communication with him.

Sometimes, though, he found that he and Dougie also chose not to speak for the same reasons; not wanting to disappoint anyone with what they needed to say. Dougie had said during the few times that he spoke about his father, that he consistently worried he was the reason his father left the family. For being a disappointment. HE remembered moments of his father verbally berating him for being so 'weird' and not 'fitting in' with the rest of his classmates because he preferred to skateboard and hang out with his lizards rather than socialize with his other classmates. But what his father didn't know was that Dougie was too socially anxious to speak to his classmates, was deemed weird by them as well, and was ostracized.

Noah, on the other hand, was fairly popular during his school years. Though he and Patrick wouldn't say they were the most popular guys in their class, they had a lot of friends they routinely hung out with. It wasn't until Robert's abuse of them increased that he found himself drawing away from his friends. He was still close with them but he didn't rock the boat too often, going along with what everyone else wanted, forcing himself to speak up when there was something that he didn't feel right or that he truly didn't want to do.

Dougie as the same way when they met. But then he found Tom, Harry, and Danny managed to slowly grow to match their energy levels, sometimes even managing to surpass them. But he saw through the façade Dougie put up and knew he still had some issues with speaking up for himself, being taken seriously, not letting others down and not wanting to be the center of attention.

It was funny in a way, abused kids were easily able to find each other and had a way of showing similar signs and symptoms of it, but they weren't great at helping each other speak up about it.

Noah wouldn't be too surprised if Dougie was thinking too much about what his father wanted, being back in the picture. From what he knew, Jazzie had been spending a lot of time on the phone with Elliot as of late. And Dougie did nothing but avoid the phone calls and conversations he tried to have, other than the initial one where he went to see him right before their last tour. The memories must've been too hard to deal with.

 _I can understand that, too,_ Noah thought.

His eyes involuntarily moved down to the scar that sat across the back of his right hand. That had been a particularly nasty bout with Robert. Noah had been late to do something, bring him dinner, or something as little…and he was forced to kneel on the ground holding out his hands, palms down. Robert had then taken off his belt and whipped it across the back of Noah's hands until the skin ripped open and bled freely. And still Robert continued to whip him, waiting for Noah to cry out in pain, or to even let out a small whimper.

But Noah stayed silent as long as Robert attacked him, waiting for Robert to tire out. When he finally, did Noah went to his siblings, quietly holding out his hands as blood dripped over the floor. He stayed silent as they bandaged his hands up—only making a whimpering sound when his nerve endings stun with the disinfecting agents put on it. That night he went to sleep with his hands carefully resting on his stomach, being careful not to roll over in the middle of the night.

He should've gone to the doctor to get it check out.

But that wasn't possible.

He wouldn't doubt that Dougie had as bad of a time with his father considering he went so far as to routinely kill his pets to emotionally scar the young boy. Combined with the scars from falling off his skateboard Dougie was rife with the wounds as well.

"I know I'm the one wearing glasses but I'm pretty sure you're fucking blind, bro."

Noah blinked and looked over to find Patrick standing at the sink, carefully scraping burned pancakes off the skillet and into the sink, under running water. Dougie stood on a nearby stool, waving a dishtowel towards the smoke alarm to keep it from going off.

Noah shook his head then let out a low huff. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"I can see that," Patrick replied. He coughed, waving a cloud of steam from his face.

"You sure? I know you and I have the same face, but you don't think very often. I didn't know you would recognize what it looks like," Noah murmured. He smiled when Patrick reached his foot back and kicked him in the leg.

"And people wonder why I say thinking can be dangerous," Dougie commented. He grimaced, jumping down from the stool and peered into the sink. "And so is eating _that_! And I thought Matt's and James's food was going to kill us."

Noah threw a dishtowel at him. "Just set the table, Dougie!"

"Aye aye!" Dougie saluted him and went to the kitchen table to do as he was told.

Resting his palms against the side of the counter, Noah extended his arms completely and let out a long breath through his nose. Patrick's eyes narrowed as he moved to his twin's side and got a good look at his face. "What's up?"

"I was thinking about Elliot," Noah said immediately. He nodded over to Dougie and lowered his voice. Patrick nodded back. "I was wondering how Dougie's doing since Jazzie has been spending so much time with him lately. It's none of my business but I worry a little." He shifted his gaze to Patrick. "Then I was thinking about Robert."

Patrick made a face. "What about him?"

"Maybe talking to the bloke again." Noah watched the expression on his twins' face. Or at least the one he tried to hide. Even if Patrick was able to keep his face completely neutral Noah would be able to tell what he was feeling. It was a sort of aura that he sensed from his twin and the rest of his family. "Don't get aggro, Pat, it's just an idea."

Patrick took a deep breath and Noah could tell he was trying not to get angry. "Why would you want to talk to him again? He's trying to adopt a kid."

"Yeah," Noah said simply. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not so sure the bloke should ever have children under his watch but at the same time…I'm not so sure he shouldn't." Now Patrick huffed and Noah knew why. They had talked about it time and time again when they were back in Australia after the ten year anniversary tour, it was hard not to as Robert would consistently try to get into contact with them. And Ronan pointed out that ignoring it wouldn't help, to which Rhuben quipped, "clearly you don't understand that in this family we like to make things worse before it gets better."

"He beat us all the time," Patrick said.

"And so was he, by his dad when he was young, _and_ his grandfather," Noah said. "He's a victim as much as we were. And even you, as boofheaded as you can be, knows there were many times when he was sober that he was fine."

"And many times, when he was drunk where he wasn't." Patrick leaned against the counter. "Look, I get it. I actually do go back and forth over the things he's done and when he was a nice guy. It seems like two completely different people." He bobbed his head back and forth. "And, yes, the bloke actually did go through all of the consequences that were brought to him."

In short, Robert had struggled over the years. After losing his foster children and getting fired from his job as their manager as well as their guardian, Robert had been sentenced by the court to be put into recovery for his alcohol addiction as well as to go to anger management courses and therapy. However, he quickly broke his sobriety, got drunk, and ended up with a sentencing of five years in jail. He served all five years and came out calmer than any of them had seen him.

And as remorseful.

"But that doesn't excuse him from what he's done," Patrick added.

"It doesn't mean he's a completely terrible person either," Noah said. He paused. "Because if it did, that would mean, considering the things we've done, that we're terrible people to…"

Patrick rested his chin in his hand. His nose wrinkled. "I think I liked it better when the only thing we had to worry about was which of us Katy was actually going to choose."

Noah laughed a loud laugh. That's what, to other people, was weird about him. He was so quiet most of the time, even scaring people half to death his movements were just as steady and silent. But, in comparison, his laughter was at a normal volume, which made it seem obnoxiously loud to anyone else. However, it was also a sign of it being a genuine laugh.

"Notice how that blew up in both of our faces," he said. "When she started dating someone from her school."

"Long distance is a bitch."

"Mhm."

But that was the funny thing about long distances; they could be navigated just fine as long as the hard work and effort was put into it.

That could be said about all relationships.

Good or bad.

* * *

"Natalie, do we have the conference room set up for the meeting today?" Jake asked. He sat at his desk, frantically moving through multiple papers, magazines, food wrappers, bills, receipts, and napkins at high speed. He was late and this wasn't going to look good with Damon if he didn't get in there in the next few seconds.

"Yes, Jake, it's been reserved for days now," Natalie, his assistant, commented. She pulled her dark hair behind her ear and gazed at him, eyebrows rising. "I understand you're a little frazzled—"

"—Frazzled isn't the word." Jake pushed everything onto the floor, wincing as his laptop went down with it. A long groan escaped his lips. "You don't think I have the good luck for that to not be broken do you?"

Natalie placed her hands on her hips. "From what you told me, you gave your 'luck'," she used air quotes around the words. "To your cousin and it's been working for her ever since." She tilted her head to the side. "I think you're starting to freak yourself out, Jake."

"No, I just don't want to be fired," Jake said.

He let out a long breath, placing his hands atop his head. Closing his eyes, he thought for a moment. "Damon is already waiting and you know his time is money. If I don't find these notes for him it's not going to—"

"—you mean these notes?" Natalie reached into her pocket book and pulled out a few folded sheets of paper. "Jake, relax. Damon signed these guys to Masquerade Records for a reason."

"And their CDs didn't do so well out here," Jake reminded her.

That had been a hard setback for all of them to work through. And even harder once they saw how much their fans liked it, it just didn't get as much traction as they would've liked. One day they were playing the Hard Rock the next they were doing small coffee shops and festivals. Not that McFly and the DarkElements didn't enjoy playing those avenues, but it had to be very humbling.

Especially with Jake's reputation.

He was the one who found the two bands and he was the one who had talked Damon—or got lucky enough—to look at them to be signed to his company. And Damon had been behind them the whole while; getting radio play, using as much of the money that was budgeted into promotion for them that ended up not working out so well. In other words, he wasn't too far away from being fired. And if he wanted to propose to and marry Ashley, that was going to put a big snag in all of his plans.

"That doesn't mean they're not going to do well now," Natalie reminded him. "The anniversary tour was a major success, even after the break they took. And all of their CDs before then were successes as well. Even their Above the Noise album didn't do as badly as they thought, knowing they did it here in the US made them get even more publicity than they could ever imagine. Did you see their Twitter accounts?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, Natalie, but Damon doesn't even run his own social media accounts? He wouldn't have any idea of what any of it means."

Natalie couldn't help but smile. "I guess you're right about that. But Jake, you need to relax. You've had your luck for a reason. And you're still lucky. Everything's going to be fine." The African-America woman tossed her hair behind her shoulders. "Now, are you going to okay? Mr. Phillips doesn't bite."

"Of course not." Jake ran a hand through his hair. "He has people for that."

Natalie laughed. "I'll see you later, Jake."

"See you, Nat. And thanks for all of your help." Jake pulled his phone from his pocket and started towards the door, glancing at the round of texts that had come in. He made it to the door before suddenly stopping and turning around, eyes frantically studying his office.

Natalie sighed. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a small black box. "You gave it to me for safe keeping, remember?" She eyed the mess around his room. "You thought you were going to lose it."

Jake breathed a sigh of relief. "Right. Yes. Thank you. I'll see you later."

"Relax!"

"I'll try!"

Jake strolled out of his office and down the long hall towards the conference room. He could already hear the bands yelling and laughing as he approached. Jake felt his nerves starting to go away as soon as he heard it. If they were quiet he'd be incredibly worried. As it was, Damon liked a party and the bands were nothing short of lively.

Pushing open the glass doors to the conference room, Jake walked inside, taking a quick sweep around the room. Fletch and Ronan were sitting to the side, working on their phones, ignoring the sound going on around them. Tom and Danny were sitting in office chairs, frantically moving their feet to propel themselves across the floor in a race while Dougie and Harry cheered them on. James stood to the side, filming it on his phone, Matt sat on the end of the table, headphones hooked up to his phone, bobbing his head to whatever music was playing, and the Jacksons were sitting quietly, watching the McFly boys.

Jake stopped and did a double-take. No, they weren't sitting quietly. They were taking bets. He could see Sydney holding onto a stack of bills while Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah were timing the guys and writing down the score.

"Don't you think it's a little early to be gambling?" Jake asked, instantly grabbing their attention.

Hearing his voice, Danny and Tom tried to stop, frantically dragging their feet across the ground, but ended up smacking face first into the wall instead. They crumpled to the ground, making the rest of ht room burst out into hysterical laughter.

Jake couldn't help but laugh, too.

They were too much fun to not laugh. At least they knew when to be serious. And when Damon arrived they couldn't be anything but serious.

"We were just trying to settle an old score, mate," Danny said, finally bringing himself off the ground. He rubbed his cheek, where a bright spot had appeared. Right before hitting the wall he turned his head to the side to keep from smacking himself in the nose.

"So you thought the best alternative to throwing yourselves over the back of a couch was to slam face first into a fucking wall?" Riley asked.

"You're forgetting about the chili challenge they did, too," Rhuben said. She rested her chin in her hands. "The one where they had to eat that pie and the one that had the chili lost. Dan lost then, too."

"He lost at the charades thing, too," Patrick piped up.

Jake walked behind Danny, clapping him on the shoulder. "Danny, for your own good, stick with soccer and music. I don't think you want to end up in the hospital again. The list of injuries is starting to get too long."

"Yeah, and the hospital staff don't really believe me when I say I'm not your partner," Tom added. He crossed his arms, shaking his head.

"It doesn't help that he refuses to let go of your hand until they're done, mate," Harry pointed out.

"Coming from the guy who does absolutely nothing to stop the rumors that you and Dougie are in a relationship," Matt pointed out.

"What's to deny? It's true." Harry laughed when Dougie reached over and wrapped his arms and legs around Harry, resting his cheek on Harry's shoulder. He rubbed his cheek on Harry's shoulder much like a cat would to their owner. Harry's smile widened and he tilted his head, placing it on Dougie's.

"Yes!" James cheered. He punched the air. "Pudd lives!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sit down." Jake waved his hands until they did as he said. "I want to go over this stuff with you guys before Damon gets here." He looked out the door of the conference room. No sign of Damon left. He still had a few minutes to stress about whether or not he was going to keep his job. "We want to keep the momentum going after your guys' tour. Even if you're all the way over here. So what I'm going to present to Damon is this; a series of radio shows."

Sydney's eyebrows came together. "How's that any different than what we've done before?" He quietly passed out the bills that had been put into the betting pot to those that had won, keeping the rest from those that had lost. "We just go to the radio station, answer a few questions, introduce ourselves, yeah?"

"No, this is a little different. These are events put on by the radio stations; festivals and stuff, things the station sponsor," Jake explained. "Like, Z100. And iHeart Radio."

"Oh, so sort of like the Jingle Ball?" Riley asked.

"Yes. Exacly. But these are going to be different shows; some acoustic and small, some going out full stop and larger. But I think the acoustic shows could do very well. Ease of transport and less to move around, easier to breakdown and set up." Jake waved his hand in the air. "Of course the in-station interviews and shows are going to be beneficial as well, especially if we get Masquerade Records to back it. This is going to be all over the US, not just in New York."

"Where are you thinking of taking this?" Fletch asked. He had his thumbs poised over his phone, ready to write down what he hadn't known before.

"New York and California are the top two," Jake explained. "Florida we've got; Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, Illinois, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania are the other stops I was thinking of. With New York and California I'm thinking we could do bigger shows than the acoustic, but in small venues. Two shows each, to get an idea of the fan coverage."

"With these three bands together I think there's enough for them to get bigger places, mate," Ronan pointed out.

Jake scratched the back of his neck. "With their star power combined, I agree. But all three bands aren't going to be playing each venue each night." Jake flipped through his notes. "It's a way to gauge the fan reaction for the bands individually and combined."

"Okay, but what about McBusted?" Fletch asked.

"This isn't going to start until we get things mapped out with scheduling for this," Jake said. "Again, like I said, we want to keep your momentum going. And you all said you wanted to come back to New York to get inspiration to write and that's what you're going to do. You need to write songs so we can get started with that, so the album can come out after you've done your tour as McBusted, doing your older songs. So if you need some time to get away even further and do a writing trip, then that can happen to."

"What about Charlie?" Noah asked.

Silence filled the room.

Jake cleared his throat. "Charlie will join us once things with Fightstar are worked out."

Codeword, he needed to finish touring for that album before he joined the rest of them. Which was only in a couple of weeks. But it was official; Charlie had decided to join them on their McBusted venture. Which was what James, Matt, and Charlie had length conversations about while back in London. And by conversations he meant arguments, especially as Charlie was having trouble relinquishing his rights over everything.

Timing and scheduling was the culprit for their frustrations with each other this time but Jake could see the setback it made. James, Charlie, and Matt had started to get along during the 10th anniversary tour and now they were tense all over again. A little better, but still tense.

"Well, the more the merrier," Tom said. "I really think having everyone in for McBusted would be the best thing for the band and the fans."

"Aww, Tom, you're so sensitive," Dougie teased, reaching out to pinch him on the cheek. "Such a sensitive guy."

"Or just bitter that he wasn't in Busted and now it's his chance," Patrick joked.

Tom flipped him off.

Jake chuckled. "So I think this would be great for you guys to get the chance to really sit down and figure out what McBusted is going to be about as well as getting inspiration to write more songs and it being a great way for the DarkElements to get more exposure in the US as well, of course."

"We can showcase the New York ones sort of like a homecoming thing," Sydney suggested. "Since we have family living here and we'veworked with McFly here before. Which would also add to more publicity, yeah?"

"And it's like Damon—ah, Mr. Phillips say; more songs means more albums, more albums means more tours, more tours means more money." He clasped his hands together. "Now I just have to wait for him to get here and tell him."

"It's already done!"

Jake jumped and turned around to find Damon Phillips, his boss and the owner of Masquerade Records standing behind him. He had a cell phone to his ear but was looking directly at Jake. Jake pressed his lips together. Sometimes he hated how Damon did that, he could never tell if he was being spoken to or not. This time Damon shifted back and forth from the phone call to him.

"Make sure this meeting is worth my while—"

"—I love the idea of having them do smaller venues around the US—"

"—Yes, I'm a very wealthy man, my time is money—"

"—And getting publicity form radio shows. They always give away free stuff and the more your singles are played on the radio the better—"

"—I'm constantly on the lookout for new talent to sign to my label, if I'm taking the time to come out and meet them in person it has to be on my terms—"

"—Maybe we can even sell the Hard Rock again—"

Jake waited for a break in the conversation but found it wasn't coming. That's okay, he just needed to step up a bit. "You…you're not giving up on them?" Glares shot his way. "I-I mean, not that I think you should."

Damon snorted and hung up his cell phone. "You kidding? The publicity of working with a British band alone has my competition scrambling for overseas talent. I know a cash cow when I see one. And I know talent when I see it. And these bands are talented. I'm not getting rid of them anytime soon."

Jake grinned. "Well, that's great Mr. Phillips."

"And you know there's nothing I love more than to celebrate my genius. Your girlfriend's already got plans for a rebranding party. All of you are invited and we're going to have a great time!" With that, he put his phone up to his ear and walked out of the conference room.

Jake grinned.

He managed to sell Mr. Philips on an idea to promote their bands, get McBusted started, and keep Masquerade Records going. _And_ Ashley was going to be setting up another party for Masquerade, of which were usually the event of the year and the talk of the city for months to come.

What could go wrong?

* * *

 **A/N:** To answer your question Jake; around them? Plenty. Lol. ;)

 **~Riley**


	6. Chapter 6

Harry pulled on a clean t-shirt and made sure his shoelaces were tied before taking a step back to examine himself in the mirror.

"No."

With a sigh, Harry turned to face Patrick, who was sitting on Harry's bed with his chin in his hands, watching hm. "You know, I never actually asked for your opinion on the last ones."

Patrick smiled a little. "And yet you've listened to me the last few times, yeah?" He tilted his head. "It's not anything too bad this time. Just that it doesn't really match."

"Guys don't need to have their clothes matching."

"They do when you don't want to look like you've dressed in the dark, mate." Patrick lifted his chin and called out to Tom, who was walking by the room with a towel around his hips and hair dripping water onto his shoulders. "Oy! Tom, what do you reckon of the way Harry's dressed?"

Tom gave him a quick once-over then laughed "I think your days of being the 'best looking member of the band' are numbered, mate."

"See?"

Harry rolled his eyes and started to undress once more. "That's a fine time coming from you, it took you twenty minutes to get into the damn shower. And trust me, mate, you needed it. You were starting to smell a little bit more than usual." He made a show of waving a hand in front of his face as he did so.

Patrick laughed lightly as Tom shook his head. Then he ran his hands over his hair, gathering water in his palms, and flicked them at Harry. Once Harry flinched away from the initial droplets, Tom raced forward and grabbed onto Harry's hands, keeping him from defending himself, and rapidly shook his head back and forth to send the remaining droplets of water around the room, the two laughing hysterically.

"Mate. Mate! Ugh, now I have to change," Harry declared, noticing the fat water droplets that sank into his shirt.

"You should've done it anyway, that's a right ugly shirt," Tom said, once getting an up close look. Grabbing onto his towel to keep it from falling off, Tom scurried from the room to his own to start getting dressed.

"Huh," Patrick murmured.

"What?" Harry asked. He picked up a football from the floor and tossed it over to Patrick, who lifted his hand and caught it before it hit him in the face.

"Usually Tom's the first one up and ready to go," Patrick remarked. "Out of you lot, anyway. Not he's the last one."

"Yeah, it took forever for us to get him up."

Harry, actually, had been the first one awake that day. As per usual he wanted to start his day with a workout. And with how big their house was, there was plenty of space in the adjoining yard to get some good wind sprints in, as well as long stretches of lunges, timed runs, and everything else that cardio would give him. Then he went on to the weights, using the dumbbells he had in his room to do a few lifts, then using the nearby tree branches for pull-ups, and the pool chairs for tricep dips. Then he did a few laps in the pool, all just to get started for the day.

By the time they arrived at the bowling alley for their show that afternoon, Harry would do a bunch of push-ups and jump rope techniques to get ready. Not that he didn't already do that before shows, but that it was something he started to work excessively at now. Having been in the coma after drinking so much had been a massive wakeup call for him. Not just coming out of the coma and seeing how his friends had been so worried about him, but seeing how his body responded to it. He had to re-learn how to do a lot of things and had to move very slowly in terms of getting back to the level of physique he was before…just being able to walk for more than fifteen minutes without being winded was difficult in itself.

His drumming had suffered as well. He used to be able to do two to three hour long shows with songs heavy on drums back to back with little difficulty. Getting right back to it after his 'accident'—that's what they were calling it now, he hadn't mean to drink to that excess—was jarring. He could hardly do two songs at an even pace. He didn't even do it with his fancy fillers and crowd-pleasing moves before his arms and legs would give out, burning with a pain he hadn't felt in a long time.

Now, he was of sound mind and body to get back to the way he had been before. But it was their first show since having ended their 10th anniversary tour and it was their first show in New York in forever. At least since they had first started out there. They had been very well received while in New York and continued to have pleasant experiences when they were promoting or went back to do radio spots. Still, this was a big show for them; it was the first time they were going to be doing McFly _and_ Busted songs within a show. Where they'd do a few McFly songs then James and Matt would join them on stage and they would do some of _their_ songs.

It was similar to what happened while they were on the 10th anniversary tour, but Danny and Tom had only jumped in for fun when James, Matt, and Charlie had gone on during intermission. Then as the rest of the tour went on it became their 'thing' before all of the managers got together and decided it was a good idea to further explore.

"And he was even more moody than usual when we did," Harry continued. He quickly changed his shirt. "Like, he tried to punch us out he wanted to stay in bed so badly. I bet he's just anxious about the show. You know he takes the band a lot more to heart than the rest of us do."

"If that's the case then his surprise party is coming at the right time," Patrick said. He lowered his voice. "That's what I came down here for, to make sure you had everything with Carrie figured out."

"Yes, I do!" Harry popped his head through the neck hole of his shirt and quickly pulled it down. "She has a direct flight from London to Newark where she'll be picked up and stay with Gen and Jacqui until Tom's party. Then she'll be out here for about two weeks or so. Is everything else ready?"

"Yep, we got the restaurant booked and bar booked as well as rented out the arcade center," Patrick replied. He counted off on his fingers. "Then there's catering, decorations, and gifts. I think that's everything."

"Have you got him his gift yet?" Harry asked.

"It was my idea to bring Carrie out here; I think that's gift enough, yeah?" Patrick then got a dull look to his face. "Otherwise, I don't think anyone can get him a good gift short of buying him fucking Disney Land."

"He likes Disney World better."

"Whatever!" Patrick threw his hands into the air, making Harry laugh. "We have to leave in twenty minutes to be sure we're in time for soundcheck, alright?"

"Alright." Harry gave him a high-five as the young boy left the room.

Then he glanced down at his shoes and quickly changed them, realizing they weren't matching either now that he had changed his shirt. Once he was finished getting dressed, Harry went to the other boys to make sure they were ready to go. _Tom may be the responsibly one but at least I know how to take on Dougie and Danny,_ he thought. Danny he found painstakingly making sure his hair was alright, of which Harry commented that he hardly had any hair so he didn't need to worry about it so much, and Dougie had managed to fall back asleep in the middle of changing his clothes, forcing Harry to finish dressing him before waking him up and forcing him upstairs.

Then he went to Tom's room to make sure he was ready to go. Tom was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking through a notebook he held in his hand, studying it intently. He flipped it shut and turned away to hide it when Harry came into the doorway.

"What's up?" Tom asked.

"Uh, I was just making sure you were ready to go. I've got Danny and Dougie up, finally, and so far it doesn't sound like Dougie's gotten into anything so…" Harry's eyes roved around the room and his eyebrows rose in surprise. Tom was never the cleanest one of the group, that was definitely Harry, but he was at least cleaner than Danny and Dougie. This time around, however, it looked like Tom was really not caring much about the cleanliness of the room.

None of his boxes were full unpacked, there were clothes strewn around the boxes and in a circle around the floor. His bed sheets were clumped together at the end of the bed in a massive lump, his dresser drawers were pulled halfway open and from what Harry could see, was half-empty. Loose-leaf papers and pages ripped out of notebooks were strewn over the floor in a haphazard pile along with guitar picks, pens, pen caps, and what looked like pieces of confetti with his guitar leaning against the wall in the corner. Then Harry looked at his desk, noticing a full plate of food that had been left overnight.

"Wow, this is probably the worst I've ever seen you have your room. And you normally wouldn't have it get that way." Harry chuckled. "Actually, I've seen you get on _me_ about my room once before."

"I've had too much stuff to do to think about how clean my room is, okay," Tom snapped. Harry's head jerked back in surprise. Then Tom let out a long breath. "Sorry, mate, I guess I'm just really nervous for this show."

"All of us are."

"And as soon as it's done I think I can finally breathe again."

"That's what soundcheck is for, let's get going and before you know it we're going to have one of the best shows of our lives."

"If you say so."

That made Harry frown.

McFly was Tom's baby, he _was_ the band. He was the one that started it all once he got kicked out of Busted. And he never stopped since it started. Or maybe that was the issue? Tom hadn't had any real time to stop since the band started; maybe he wanted to see if there was anything else out to life that he could get. He had been lamenting over his failed past relationship with Gen, lately. Not that Harry didn't understand it, he was just as surprised as anyone else when she and Tom broke up; he thought they would've been together forever from the way they complemented each other.

Though overtly shy, when the two were together they were the most outgoing couple he had ever seen. Especially with how goofy Tom could get when he was completely comfortable, Gen found nothing short of adorable and could go along with it, while also bringing an amazing listening ear when it was needed.

They were all getting older now so it wasn't so surprising that they were all looking for someone who could take on their lifestyle. It wasn't easy and they had each gone through their own struggles with past relationships but it had never gotten then so down before.

"Don't worry, mate, the show's going to be amazing," Harry reassured him.

Tom didn't respond. Instead, he managed a small smile and brought he plate of food up to the kitchen to soak in the sink with Harry following him. He glanced around the room, finding the Jackson already getting their things together to leave but no sign of James or Matt.

"They already went ahead to get an idea of what we'd be working with," Rhuben explained. She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "James is so excited he was nearly bouncing off the wall."

"I think he prefers smaller venues, right?" Noah asked. "A much more intimate setting gives you a better way of making sure that you're truly connecting with the fans."

"But you can't beat the energy from a large audience," Riley reminded him, to which he nodded.

Sydney, who was sitting on the arm of the couch, his phone nearly pressed flat against his face as he scrolled through it, lifted his head while lowering his phone. "The others are there, too. They got into New York last night."

"Bonzer, then that's everyone, right?" Patrick asked.

"Mhm."

"Good." He let out a relieved sigh, running his hands over his face. Harry was about to ask what was going on when Dougie launched himself onto Harry's back, wrapping his arms around his neck. Harry lifted his arms around looped them around Dougie's legs to make sure he didn't fall down.

"Any reason why you decided to attack me?" He asked.

"Better you than me," Riley mumbled, rubbing a spot on her shoulder as she glared at Dougie.

"You got that right. We don't need Dougie's blood spilled everywhere."

Tom finally left the kitchen and the group went to their cars and headed into the city to the bowling alley. Or as Jake didn't find funny that everyone else called, the Hall of Shame. Every now and then when they were in New York, McFly and the DarkElements went bowling at the alley for a night out. And they went to that one for a couple of reasons; it was cheap, it was close, it was the first place they heard their songs on the radio in the US, and it was the only place they could go that they knew would give them license to tease Jake a little bit.

Now that his self-proclaimed 'bad luck' was gone there wasn't much they could get him with. And they all knew their friendships were bonded with the little moments they were able to rag on each other.

Harry was the last one to the bowling alley once they arrived. Call it him being a bit slow, wanting to take in the feel of New York City compared to London or Divine Intervention but it was the best decision Harry made. As he went to go into the bowling alley he pulled the door open at the same time that a young woman pushed it open. She nearly fell out onto the sidewalk, catching herself just as a group of woman streamed out after her.

Harry briefly smiled at the group then turned to the girl. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. Harry immediately noticed her English accent and felt a sort of connection with her. It wasn't every day he ran into a Brit when in America. With a laugh, she pushed herself backwards and straightened herself, leaving her hand on the door handle. "Just tripped over my own two feet."

"Actually, I think it was my fault," Harry apologized. "I pulled the door open a little fast."

"Then I'll blame you if my heart decides to explode." She finally lifted her chin and Harry was mesmerized as he looked into her green eyes and pleasant smile. Her eyes crinkled in the corners when she smiled back. "Who should I make my medical bill out to?"

It took a second for Harry to realize she was still speaking to him. Finally, he shook his head and managed to stammer out, "Harry. Judd. Just…it's Harry Judd."

"I'm Izzy Johnston," she said.

"Izzy, huh?" Harry then looked down and noticed she was holding her hand out to him, waiting for him to shake it. Harry brought his free hand from the pocket of his jeans and dropped his phone to the ground. "Bollocks. Sorry." He quickly scooped it up then shoved the phone into his pocket. He looked just over Izzy's head and found Tom, Danny, and Dougie all watching the two of them, grinning.

Harry grimaced. They were either going to come over and make fun of him or they were going to wait until he was done chatting her up. He sincerely hoped they would wait. He could deal with the bollocking afterwards but not right now.

"Uh, is your name short for Isabelle?" Harry asked, turning his attention back to her.

Izzy chuckled. "Actually, it's not."

"It's not?"

"No."

"So your name's just Izzy?"

"No. Izzy's my nickname. But no one ever really calls me by my name." She paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing. "Harry, right?" He nodded. "From McFly? So you're going to be playing here tonight?"

"Yes, me and my mares are all playing," Harry explained. "You know who we are?"

"Yes, I'm a pretty big fan." Then she looked at him funny. "And my troupe and I had played for you on your Wonderland tour, but we never got a chance to meet."

"Oh really? I'm…I'm sure I would've remembered your face."

Izzy laughed and brought a hand up to her cheek. "Why? Because there's something ghastly about it?"

"No, because I would've remembered someone so beautiful," Harry replied smoothly. Or at least he hoped it was smooth. As soon as the words came from his mouth he wanted to take them back. Surely there was something better he could've come up with. Anything that could've been even more unique. _But girls do say honesty is the best policy,_ Harry thought, watching Izzy's smile grow wider. _And it seems to be working._

"Well, that's very sweet of you, Harry." Izzy started to remove herself form the doorway. Harry glanced over his shoulder and dropped the door before moving to follow her onto the sidewalk. "I'm sorry, I can't stay. I have to catch up with my friends."

"You're not staying for the show?" Harry felt his heart tumble. Great, he just met this amazing girl and now he wasn't going to see her again.

"I can't. My group and I are playing a show tonight as well." Izzy pointed over her shoulder. "We're going there now."

"Well..I'm going to a party later tonight. A big party for Masquerade Records. I can get you on the list if you want to come."

"I'll think about it," Izzy said. "And I may even drop by, but only if you can figure out what my name is." She smiled and waved. "Bye, Harry."

"Bye." A little stunned, Harry waved back until she was out of sight. Then he turned on his heel and walked right into the door of the bowling alley. Rubbing his nose, he opened the door and walked inside to find Tom, Dougie, and Danny all laughing at him. "Okay, get the jokes out now?"

"Mate, how could you not notice the door was there?" Danny asked, still in the throes of laughter.

"Maybe she turned him down worse than we thought," Tom added. He crossed his arms and lifted his chin. "I reckon it's the only thing that would manage to knock you off your pedestal once."

"Is she fit?" Dougie asked bluntly, making Tom and Harry smack him on the back of the head.

"Yeah…" Harry practically breathed. He blinked hard and looked up at his three friends as if just noticing them there for the first time. "I quite fancy her."

"Okay, so what's her name? What's she like?" Danny rubbed his hands together. "Don't leave us hanging, mate, tell us what happened."

"Actually," Harry said. "I don't know her name."

At the same time, Tom, Danny, and Dougie gaped at him in surprise. This couldn't have been the same guy who managed to pull girls left and right while on tour, charming them from start to finish. Nor could it be the guy who could talk up a storm to anyone who crossed his path, to the point that he had more friends than any of the others could ever imagine.

Harry smiled.

He didn't know her name, but he was going to find out.

* * *

Matt sighed heavily, running his hands over his face. Then he spread his fingers and looked at the table in front of him. There were so many drinks that he could have and yet the one that was speaking to him the most was the one he couldn't have.

He had the option of putting on his rider that no alcohol was going to be around him, but then that wasn't fair for everyone else who liked to drink. They didn't have to stop their lives to be able to have some fun, just for him. And besides, it wasn't like he was the only one who couldn't or didn't want to drink; Harry didn't, Riley didn't, Rhuben usually didn't, and Sydney couldn't until he turned twenty-one. He had gone this long without it, so why was the cravings coming back now?

 _You know your own triggers, why make it harder for yourself?_ He asked himself. He had an addictive personality, that had been figured out fairly quickly. He had gone through the first—and only—tours with Busted and didn't remember anything of the second one for the reason alone that he drank so much. Actually, there was a part of him that didn't really remember what happened right after the band ended either. He had spiraled so much with his drinking and drug addiction and part of it he knew was because of his own anxiety.

And here he was now, anxious of what was going to happen with the show that night and he was jonesing for something stronger than chocolate. He couldn't have too much chocolate anyway or he'd become addicted to that and the last thing he needed was to gain weight.

He needed to do something or else he as going to break and have years of work thrown down the drain.

"Dude!"

 _Saved by the bell,_ Matt thought. He twisted around on the couch cushion and watched James run into the dressing room, carrying his new keyboard over his head as he did so. Matt reached out and grabbed a handful of grapes instead. "What's up?"

"You have to check out this tune I just came up with," James said. He carefully placed the keyboard on the table with all of the refreshments and sat down in the folding chair across from Matt. "I was just checking to see what he space was like before we started out sound check and I was messing around and check this out for the beginning of Year 3000."

Matt leaned forward and listened, popping grape after grape into his mouth as he listened. He couldn't help but smile as he listened to it. It was actually pretty cool. A 80s sounding riff to the futuristic opening they already had. It was perfect, and so much different from the way it used to be. Not that that was a bad thing. Playing all of their old songs the exact same way could be annoying at times, there wasn't much room for growth. It was part of the reason why he was so excited with the McBusted thing going on, not just because he could play shows with his best friends but because there was much more they could do with the arrangements of their songs.

And he had always wanted to play some McFly songs for fun.

"That's awesome, man," Matt declared when James finished. He reached out high-fived him. "Seriously, I should've gotten that keyboard myself. It's sick."

"Yeah, like you could've afforded it," James teased.

"Excuse me, not everyone can write successful musicals." Matt rolled his eyes. He eyed James when he leaned forward and picked up a beer from the table, smacking off the cap before putting it to his lips. "Have you thought of anything else we could do differently for our arrangements? So far I think it'd be good if Danny took over Charlie's parts while we waited to see what's going on with him."

"You think that's a good idea?" James asked after swallowing. "Having Danny take his parts? You know the two already don't get along."

"I know Charlie can be petty about things, but he's not petty about music." Matt paused as soon as the words left his mouth. He knew that was a lie. Charlie was pretty petty in the way their band was going with their music. Instead of talking to James and Matt about his issues with the band, he started to talking to other people and collaborating with them, working on the music _he_ wanted to see Busted try out.

Instead of that making James and Matt see that they should've compromised, it just made James hate him, made Charlie resent them even more, and made Matt stuck in the middle where he ignored everything with his own battles.

Now things were getting better and he was still struggling.

"Let me rephrase that, he isn't petty about music that doesn't have to do with him," Matt corrected. He shook his head then leaned back in his seat. "Mate, we can't let him dictate everything we're doing when he's not here."

"But he might be here," James reminded him. "You heard Fletch."

"And you're going to continuously sit back and make snark remarks to him?"

"I'll be civil as long as he is."

"We were starting to get along before Harry got in trouble, mate. We came out here to New York for a reason. Maybe that'll help things a little bit." He gestured towards James's keyboard. "You just came up with that crazy cool riff; we're working with a band that we've wanted to work with for years. And we're in New fucking York, about to go on a cross-country promotional tour. If there's anything that's going to make things better for us, it's getting out of London."

James made a humming sound.

"And even I know you don't hate him. You said it yourself, you can't too much time and energy on someone that doesn't actually effect him. Besides, you're supposed to be the positive one. You don't care what happens a long as you make music."

"That's true," James said.

"Chances are you've already started to write some new songs," Matt added. James lifted his head and stared to smile, making Matt smile back. Then James reached over and picked up his beer bottle and took another drink before starting to pluck out notes on the keyboard once more.

Matt turned away from him. So much for that distraction. He started to bounce his knees up and done, popping his fingers. Anything that would give him something to do, anything to keep him from thinking about it. There was a knock on the dressing room door and Matt looked up, expecting to find Fletch coming into the room in a whirlwind, but instead found the rest of their friends all grouping inside. Silence gave way to madness as they spread out, talking to each other.

"You should've seen the girl that Harry just pulled," Danny stated, dropping down to the other side of the couch. "But get this, he doesn't know her name."

"What?" Matt and James asked in unison.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I know her name," he said. "Her nickname at least. But I don't know what her _real_ name is. As soon as I figure that out and put her on her guest list at the Masquerade Records party, I can meet up with her there and keep talking."

"How're you supposed to find her if you don't know her real name?" Sydney asked, his features screwing up in confusion. He cocked his head. "It's not like you can search the phone book for her nickname?"

"Not unless it's legally what she goes by, yeah?" Anna asked. She sat in the corner of the room, leaning forward to stretch out her legs. There was another knock on the door and she quickly got up to answer it.

Matt turned his attention back to Harry. "Is she fit?"

"You and Dougie spend way too much time together," Riley remarked with a shake of her head.

"No, we're just asking the important questions," Matt replied. He held out his hand and Dougie gave him a high-five. "Though I'm sure you girls would be more into what does she do for a living? What's her family like? Does she have any siblings?"

"No, I want to know what she looks like, too," Rhuben denied. "I just wouldn't have been so blunt about it." She turned her head at the sound of other voices and her entire face lit up. "Hey!" She and her siblings bounded over to the newcomers, giving them tight hugs and pleasantries before bringing them over to the other guys, who watched them curiously. "So, I don't think you lot have ever met. But these are our friends." She motioned to the tall, dark haired young man, red-haired young man, Hispanic young woman, and African-American young woman standing beside her. "This is Brody, Rooster, Jewel, and Storm. With Anna they're our back-up dancers as well as our back-up band."

"It's about time you guys got here," Anna added, planting her hands on her hips.

"Like hanging out with me this whole time has been such a big problem for you," Sydney remarked, rolling his eyes.

"Hanging out with you is fine," Anna replied. She smiled sweetly. "It's just sometimes I'd like to have some intelligent conversation." She turned back to Jewel and Storm. "What took you so long?"

"Rooter almost got us stuck in customs," Storm explained. She tossed her dark hair over her shoulders. "Because he forgot the conversion rates of money and gifts."

"Excuse me that I wanted to bring these guys some comfort from home," Rooster said.

"They haven't been gone that long!"

"Whatever!"

With that, the Jacksons brought their co-workers around to meet their friends. Matt figured them out quickly; Anna was Sydney's girlfriend, Storm was the African-American who was Noah's backup, Rooster was the boy with the shockingly red hair and Rhuben's backup, Jewel was the Hispanic girl and Patrick's backup, and Brody was the tall brunet and Riley's backup. And all of them had been working with the Jacksons practically since they started their band as well as having their own ventures when they weren't working with them.

"So you're going to be coming along on the promotional tour with us?" Tom asked after the pleasantries went through.

"Part of the time," Rooster said with a nod. "But only for the bigger shows. The smaller ones not so much. Typically we come along, even when unneeded to get a jump on the really big arena shows that are going to be done, yeah?"

"Now I get why people say you're a bunch of workaholics," Danny said. He lifted his eyebrows, looking over the faces of the newcomers. "You're coming to tonight's party, though, right?"

"Watch it, Dan," Rhuben warned him.

Danny held up his hands. "I don't mean anything by it, love. Just asking if they're looking for a good time."

"I'm just glad this is a party I can go to this time," Sydney said. "I hate being left out of these things."

"Trust me, they're not fun, Little Man," Riley said to him. She reached out and rested her arm on his shoulder. "Every other time we've been able to go we've had to work. And yet you were the one who got to sit at home with a cool babysitter and actually have fun."

Sydney smirked and nodded. "Sounds about right. You lot were bored because I wasn't there and I'm the fun one."

"And you say _I_ have an ego?" Patrick asked.

"Well, you do," Jewel pointed out. Patrick muttered his thanks and Jewel motioned for him to follow her to the corner of the room. Patrick nodded and followed her where they immediately got head into a hushed, heated conversation.

Matt watched them curiously. "So, are they dating too…or?"

"Definitely not," Noah said. "They're just really close friends. Besides, he's not her type."

"That reminds me." Riley turned and locked her gaze on Brody. "I heard you and Ashton finally got engaged. When and where is the wedding and can I bring a date?"

Brody laughed.

"A date?" Sydney repeated.

"You're not even going out with anyone," Rhuben teased.

Riley sniffed. "Just because I'm not going _out_ doesn't mean I'm not going out."

Matt cocked an eyebrow as he looked at her. "Do I know him?" He asked with a teasing lift to his voice. Riley stuck her tongue out at him in reply and said, "Maybe."

"Hey!" Dougie thrust his palm into the air. "How come I didn't know this? You're supposed to tell me everything. I have the right the know everything about every guy that you're going to go out with."

Dumbfounded, Riley stared at him. "No, you don't."

"Yes, we do," Tom, Danny, Harry, and Dougie all replied in unison. Tom then took the time to elaborate. "We never had to do it with Dougie because he's Dougie. What's the worst he's going to do? Run you off a cliff with a skateboard."

Riley made a humming sounded, resting her chin in her hand. "He's done that once."

"It was an _accident,"_ Dougie defended himself.

"Oh yeah?" Rhuben nodded with her chin over to Danny. "Then what about him?"

"He's just a mistake," James quipped. "Can't get them all right."

And everyone started to laugh again.

That was more like it. As long as there were enough people around to talk and laugh with Matt didn't have to give in to his temptation.

No matter how badly he wanted to drink.

* * *

 **A/N:** As I've needed to do recently, I apologize for the wait on this update. Things get in the way sometimes, you know?

 **~Riley**


	7. Chapter 7

_"Everybody wants to know her name, how does she cope with her newfound fame? Everyone asks me, who the hell is she? That weirdo with five colours in her hair."_

The sound of guitars and drums filled the bowling alley to the brim. The sound of the heavy balls being dropped to the wooden lanes were even drowned out, the sounds of the falling pins, that were just a little bit louder, didn't stand a chance either. The bleating of video games from the arcade, talking and cheering from those that were taking their turns to bowl, and the screaming, cheering, and singing of fans all mixed together.

Jake, Fletch, and Ronan sat at the bar stools of the counter where those wanting food got their orders, nodding along to the beat of the songs that were played by their bands. To make sure the audience wouldn't get too used to one band over the other, they would switch off every three songs. And with a arsenal of songs under their belt the changes were seamless as well as making the audience excited when they would join each other on a song. Busted and McFly doing each other's songs were a hit, as was the DarkElements joining each other band to play along with their songs as well as them joining theirs. The stark difference in the songs were interesting to see, how the DarkElements' had some darker songs that McFly had mentioned time and time again that they were fans of, they could now sing along with it, especially since the release of Radio:Active, with their own dark songs.

Ronan let out a low breath, resting his hand on his cheek, elbow on the bar as he tried to keep his head upright. It swam, feeling like his head was filled with waves, sloshing around each second he moved his head. The injection he had taken earlier that day had started working on him sooner than he thought it would. The last few rounds of chemo that he had given him the same symptoms but not until nearly half a day later. Then again, he had been able to hide it better when back in Australia, getting used to the seasonal changes always made him a little sick at the beginning.

The pulsing sounds of the drum beats, no matter how far back he was sitting and the ear plugs in his ears did nothing to stop his pounding headache and churning stomach. Nausea slid over him and Ronan swallowed hard, wiping sweat away from his forehead. He managed to make it a few seconds, then turned and puked into the trash can sitting next to him.

Jake and Fletch immediately recoiled and looked around to see if anyone else had noticed it. It seemed like those around the bowling alley were having too much fun bowling and watching the bands to notice. Even better news, those that had come that represented the press weren't paying much attention either. They had their moments to interview the band members and the managers and producers almost immediately after arriving.

 _You can only hope for small miracles,_ Ronan thought. He leaned back, running his arm across his mouth. He didn't have to look at Jake and Fletch to know they were reacting with concern and shock. Ronan braved a smile. "Don't worry about it, I just had an injection. It happens, it's nothing serious."

"You think spewing like a fire hydrant is nothing serious?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, mate, I know you keep saying you're fine—"

"—And I am!" Ronan stood up, resting his hands against the counter. "I just…I'm just not feeling so well. It's a side effect. Even if I was in a hospital bed getting this crap pumped into my body I'd be throwing up like no one's business." He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long breath. "I'm going to skip out on the party. I've done all of the networking I need to do here." He pushed himself away from the bar. "I'm just going to head back to the hotel. Tell my kids that I needed to get some work done." Jake and Fletch gave him identical expression so disbelief. "I'm actually going to do some work when I'm not too busy with my head in the toilet. Relax, I'll call if anything comes up."

Ronan got up from the stool and walked to the door of the bowling alley. He greeted Katy with a hug and a pat on the back before directing her over to Fletch and Jake before leaving. Jake looked over at his cousin and beamed, wrapping his arm around her in a tight hug. "Hey, cuz. How's it going?"

"It's going good," Katy replied. "Just finished my classes for today and I'm _so_ ready for the weekend." She held out her hand and she and Jake did their secret handshake. "And for this party. Thanks for inviting me."

"I couldn't not have my best girl there," Jake pointed out.

Katy looked at him curiously. Then her full lips pulled back into a smirk and she flipped her hair over her shoulder before sticking her finger in Jake's face. "You better not. I can't not be there when you propose."

"So you're actually going to propose tonight?" Fletch asked. The ever present smile on his face widened. "Like, you're actually going to do it? I've heard you say it a few times before but nothing's come of it."

"Yes, I'm actually going to do it," Jake said. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Nerves," Fletch said automatically.

"That run of bad luck you've got," Katy added. She shrugged. "You never know, it could come back and bite you in the ass."

"I already gave my luck to you," Jake reminded her. He thought for a moment. "Better yet, that's probably a good point. The day is going too well as it is, something's bound to go wrong. Katy, come here." Jake leaned forward to grab her but Katy backed out of the way.

"I don't think so. It's worked well for me so far, I'm not giving it up yet." Katy laughed and turned on her heel, pushing her way through the crowd of dancing bodies. She managed to work her way to the side of the stage, close to the front and tapped Gen and Jacqui on the arm. "Hey!" She greeted them. "How's it going? How're they doing?" She nearly had to scream to be heard over the music.

Her ears were already ringing and she had only just arrived. She couldn't imagine what was going on with the others that were right next to the monitors and the amplifiers on stage. Jacqui nodded over to her. "Better than ever," She said. "I can't wait to see what everyone says when they go on their promotional tour."

"Yeah, they've been trying out some of the McBusted stuff tonight," Gen added. "It's actually a lot better than I thought it would be."

"Just as long as it doesn't go to their heads," Katy said. She laughed, remembering the last McFly concert she had been to. Which, in actuality, had been the only concert she had been to. The guys had just gotten signed to Masquerade Records and were doing their showcase at the Hard Rock. As Jake's guest she had been able to go and had a blast. (Okay, part of it was because she had a major crush on Danny at the time and being able to hang out with him was always fun). Since then she had been too busy with school to go to other concerts of theirs and just helped promote them to her friends and classmates when she got the chance "But Jake was telling me about it, about the two bands coming together and their upcoming shows. I think it sounds awesome."

"It's one of the best ideas they've had," Jacqui agreed.

Gen pushed her hair behind her shoulders, then crossed her arms. "We won't know how it turns out until they start gaining traction. And it may take some time. Don't get me wrong, I think they can do an awesome job with it. But it's the first time _anyone's_ tried something as big as this."

"That's not true," Jacqui said.

"Yeah, they did the New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys thing," Katy said.

"Yeah, but they didn't do it the same way these guys are. They did it where they sang their own songs but headlines. These guys are doing their own songs but both bands singing with the opportunity for an album entirely of new songs." Gen clapped appreciatively as the song and the show ended. Despite her worries, she couldn't help but grin

Gen's worries aside, they were talented bands and it would take a lot for things to completely fall apart with them. Katy clapped and cheered along with the audience as the bands came out to do their boys. Katy caught Noah's eye and quickly waved to him. He smiled and waved back, nudging Patrick in the side to point her out. Patrick looked over and waved too, then made a motion for her to wait. Katy nodded back.

"Ooh," Gen teased. She elbowed Katy in the side. "Is it just me or is this whole love triangle starting up again?"

"Oh please." Katy felt her cheeks flush. It wasn't even really that embarrassing. They were young and they were the only guys her age that was around. Yes, she liked to hang out with both of them and yet she knew they both liked her. But it wasn't anything they let get in the way of their friendship. There was no point; she was going to stay in New York, they were going back to Australia and England and long distance was never her thing. Plus she had met her first boyfriend shortly after that so…

The problem with that boyfriend, apart from the fact that they were young, was that he was boring. IN comparison to Jake's life, working in the music industry that he willingly took her in, everything paled in comparison. Classes and homework was nothing compared to being in the recording studio and watching a band play live. Being able to go backstage and hang out with the band, get to see how the band worked in a more real way than fans saw after everything was manufactured.

Being able to hang out with a couple of bands, even those that were actually her age showed her a world that she never thought would actually exist for her. And yeah, Patrick and Noah were really good looking. And, yes, she had a crush on both of them at one point. But that was in the past, it hadn't come between any of them, and she wanted nothing more than to continue that friendship. Plus, being able to spend more time with Jake was always fun.

Her was her favorite cousin and despite their age difference they were best friends.

"They're just really good friends. And I haven't seen them in _forever_. You guys either. What's been going on with you?"

"Same old thing. Studying, traveling, dreaming about taking over the world," Jacqui joked.

"That sounds like something I'd say."

The girls all laughed. The lights in the bowling alley lifted, allowing Katy to get a good look around the crowd. She spotted some of her friends from her college classes and quickly greeted them, before then going to greet Anna, Brody, Rooster, Storm, and Jewel, having met them the last time they were all in New York. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to wrap her arms around Noah's neck.

"Good job!" She said, squeezing him tightly. "That was so awesome!"

"Thanks," Noah said. He hugged her back then stood back, taking a long sip from a water bottle. "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah."

"You missed out a lot of stuff. Hearing some of those old songs again was beauty."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just had a lot of homework I needed to finish before stopping by the party." Katy laughed and ran her hand through her hair. "What about you? You guys have some new music you were working on?"

Noah shrugged. "Here and there. Nothing too amazing. Right now we're trying to figure out what's going to happen with the upcoming tour. That's the most important." He grinned, starting to put the water bottle back to his mouth again. "Did you say 'hi' to Danny yet?" He laughed and ducked out of the way when Katy lifted both of her hands and shoved him hard on the arm. "Hey, I'm not the one that had a crush on him. I mean, the guy's pretty but he's not my type." He tilted his head. "Doesn't look like your type either."

Katy laughed. She crossed her arms. "Then what is my type?"

"Out of McFly?"

"Mhm."

"Tom."

"Every girl wants a Tom."

"I hear that a lot." Noah shook his head. "Nah, Tom and Gen are freaking made for each other. I just hope that they can make their way back to each other soon." He paused, chewing his lower lip as if realizing he made a mistake in his statement. Now Katy was curious. Everyone had the same mentality, that Tom and Gen would've been the ones that could make it more than anyone else. Who made everyone actually believe in 'true love' if that was a thing.

Still, even Katy knew something had happened to tear them apart. Distance was a bitch to everyone. But then they were together for the last tour and they were back together for this one. Drama from the last tour aside they more than likely would've gotten back together. So what was the problem now? Katy knew all of the questions were resting in her eyes as Noah did his best to avoid her gaze, pushing his hair into his face to do so.

"Noah."

"What?"

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Something I was told in the strictest confidence by my sisters…by Gen."

Katy continued to look at him. Noah rolled his eyes and recapped his water bottle. He shook out his hair and something wet—she hoped it was water and not sweat—landed on her. Finally, Noah let out a low sigh and motioned for her to step closer, so that no one else could hear. Katy wasn't' sure who would be paying attention to their conversation, then realized there was press around. Always looking for that juicy tidbit.

"Gen's boyfriend, the one she had after Tom," Noah started.

"Yeah?" Katy prompted. She knew it was big, her thudding heart knew it.

"He died."

* * *

Danny slammed the shot glass to the counter, letting out a loud 'whoo' as he did so. Around him, Tom, Dougie, and James did the same, all making different faces. Some with eyes screwed up, others with mouths puckered as the burning liquid slid down their throats. The rest of their friends all cheered for Danny, patting him on the back and shoulders as they did so.

Around them, the party for masquerade records continued to rage. It had been ever since they walked through the doors. Some of the biggest celebrities in NYC were there, the socialites from the Hamptons were there, and those that worked in Masquerade Records and those lucky enough to get invitations flooded the party space. It was packed wall to wall with dance floors, tables to eat at, roped off areas for VIPs, and a portion that held an arcade. And it looked like everyone was having a good time. There were sporadic cheers that came from the dance floor and smiling faces as far as he could see.

It was one of the best parties Danny had been in a long time. Parties like that never used to be his thing, mostly as ones thrown for record companies were more for networking purposes than anything else. Not to mention that Fletch never let them go to the first set of parties they had been invited to, the big ones that would've been fun. Though, considering how everything went down with their smoking weed when Fletch found out, going out to those parties would've ended up with their asses handed to them.

Or worse, a band that broke up because friendship lines were drawn in the sand from the very beginning. Getting a beer, Danny turned in his seat to look over at James and Matt, who were sitting on their own stools, talking and laughing with each other. Until someone—a very beautiful woman—walked over to the two and started to talk to them, leaning close to be heard. Danny watched the two. He wasn't quite sure which one she was into more, but it looked like they were having fun figuring it out.

Danny took the opportunity to look around. Once the competition had finished, Jacqui had grabbed Gen, Riley, and Rhuben and dragged them onto the dance floor where they were then dancing in a circle to the house music being played. Sydney grabbed Anna's hand and twirled her out onto the dance floor, pulling her close as they moved to the beat of the music. Patrick and Noah were talking to Harry, and the Jacksons' backup band had taken the floor as well.

Tom sat beside Danny, slowly sipping at his own beer as he tried to work up the nerve to dance with Gen—at least that's what Danny had to guess from the wistful look on his face. Rolling his eyes, Danny turned towards Tom. "Go," he said.

Tom looked at him, raising his eyebrows. "I'm sorry?

"You'll be even sorrier if you don't make a move," Danny pointed out. He gestured towards the dance floor with his beer. "We're all here having fun, Tom. Don't be a stick in the mud."

"I'm not being a stick in the mud."

"Even Syd had more game than you and he's ten years younger than you are." Tom scowled as Danny laughed at his own—accurate—deduction. "Come on, just go dance, it's not a big deal." He reached out his hand towards Danny. "You want me to dance with you?"

"Get away from me!" Tom swatted at Danny's leg.

"You know, that really doesn't help with the Flones rumors we have, right?" Danny said. He reached forward and rubbed Tom's knee, making him lean even further away from him. "You might as well just sit back and let it happen."

"This explains why you've never been able to keep a steady relationship, mate. You're just too creepy."

"Yeah, well, I've got a great smile and amazing musical talent so that makes up for it."

"Eh, you had to get _something_."

"So what's going on there?"

"She made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want to try and be anything anymore."

"So why not try being her friend?" Danny's suggestion was so simple but Tom looked over at him as if he had just given him the secret recipe to be completely successful in life. "If nothing else works, just try being her friend. Rhu and I were friends first and things worked out there. Much better than any of my other relationships."

Now Tom laughed, his dimple appearing in his cheek. "Mate, where were all stuck together when we met. She could've easily decided to go for me or Harry, or even Dougie." At that, Danny snorted. "I reckon not Dougie. But you get my point." Then he bobbed his head back and forth. "Okay, you have a point, too."

"See? I can be smart every now and then. I just choose when to show it."

"Too right." Tom set his beer down and got up from his seat. He looked over at Danny and Danny could see the hesitation in his best friend's eyes as well as in his posture. "You coming, mate?"

Danny scanned the dance floor for a moment. No one that particularly caught his eye. No one except one. "In a minute, I just want to see what's going on with Harry, first." At that, Danny turned in the opposite direction and looked at Harry, who leaned back and forth on his bar stool, trying to see through the crowd. "Mate, when are you just going to go out there and have some fun?"

"She'll be here," Harry said. His eyes continued to rove. "I found out her name, I got her on the list. She'll be here."

"Right, and I'm the pope." Danny laughed. His infectious laughter made Tom crack up as well. Being around Danny meant laughing more often than not. Well, it also meant staring at him funny and shaking your heard when he said something that either wasn't funny or stupid, like when he mentioned he thought eggs were vegetables. "What's so special about her anyway?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it."

Danny was seconds away from making fun of him for it, but then realized that Harry was being sincere. There was no teasing in his voice, no jokes, nothing. He just continued to earnestly look around the dance floor of the party. Then, a broad grin came over his face. Danny and Tom leaned over, stacking atop each other, to find her. It didn't take too long. She walked straight towards Harry with confident strides, another girl at her side.

Danny's eyebrows rose when he spotted her companion; tall, blonde, and a lovely smile. All that he could want in a girl, really. If the physical attributes were the only thing that counted. He was sure she had a great personality, too.

"So, you figured out my name," Izzy remarked.

"Yeah, your real name," Harry agreed. He chuckled at her joke. "It's Brittany."

"Correct." Izzy crossed her arms. "How'd you figure it out? Most people don't think you can get Izzy from Brittany."

"I looked you up," Harry replied. His smile widened. "It took a lot of work, and I had to do it fast before our show. But I figured it out." He reached out his hand then stopped, dropping it to his knee. "How was your show? You performed tonight, right?"

"It was great, we preformed at the orchestra a little ways down the street," Izzy said. "We have a sort of residency going on right now so it was just the first night of many." She looked over as Tom and Danny both cleared their throats, glaring at Harry. It took Harry a few seconds longer to realize it and he blinked over at his friends, as if coming out of a trance. "Oh, I'm sorry. These are my mates, Tom and Danny."

"Hi."

"Hi."

Izzy smiled towards the two. Then her eyes widened and she gestured to her companion. "I guess I should apologize, too. This is my mate, Georgia Horsley."

Georgia smiled. "Hi, it's lovely to meet you."

Danny thrust his hand out to her. "Nice to meet you, too. I'm Danny. But you can call me Dan or whatever you'd like."

"How about desperate?" Tom said with a smirk.

Danny glared at him. He stood up from his stool and motioned towards Georgia. "Fancy a dance?"

"No, actually, I came here with some other mates. I just wanted to make sure that Izzy was alright meeting up with this guy." Georgia grasped Izzy's arm and smiled at her. "Now we know he's as real as she says I'm not needed. Have a lovely time."

"Cheers," Izzy called to her. Then she smile and sat down on Harry's other side, the two immediately falling into conversation.

Danny frowned, but only for a moment. It wasn't like he hadn't been told 'no' before. But it was the first time in a while. And it didn't help the way Tom was smiling at him. Like he wanted nothing more than to bust his balls. But Danny wasn't going to give him the satisfaction to know how taken aback he was. Instead, Danny put his beer down and tilted his head towards the dance floor, motioning for Tom to follow him. Danny pushed his way amongst the crowd and up behind the girls.

"I'm borrowing her," he called to Jacqui, Gen, and Riley, grabbing Rhuben's arm on a twirl, using the momentum to turn the two around. Rhuben laughed and easily moved into Danny's grasp, placing her right hand on his shoulder and her left one in his and he maneuvered them around.

"Smooth," Rhuben said with a laugh.

"What can I say? I need my best dance partner if I'm going to dance a little," Danny said. "I need you to make me look good."

"I reckon you're not that bad, mate," Rhuben said. She pretended to think for a second. "I mean, your break dancing is a bit aggro, and you could use some practice with your footwork, yeah?" She laughed, lifting her arms to spin the two around. Danny's arms got caught for a second but with a few skillful rotations, Rhuben managed to untangle them. Danny grinned. Her dancing ability, being a choreographer for their bad aside, always impressed him. It just showed how much she truly lived and breathed dance. "So what took you so long to get out here?"

"Tom and I were checking out that bird that Harry was talking about," Danny explained. "Get this, he actually figured out her name." Rhuben's eyes widened. "Yeah, I didn't believe it either."

"Good for him! He seems to really like her…from the short amount of time he talked to her." Rhuben blew her strand of purple hair form her face, striking Danny as well. Her breath was cool and sweet, doing more things to him than he thought was possible. "What'd you think of her?"

"She seemed nice."

"That's it?"

"Do you want anything else?"

"Normally you have a novel length thought about girls."

"Nah, that was only you." And Danny meant it. He looked seriously at Rhuben as she rolled her eyes. The music shifted to a slow song and Danny pulled her closer as Rhuben moved her arms around his neck. "I'm being serious, love. Don't you sometimes wonder what it'd be like…" he trailed off, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He could feel himself flush from his neck all the way to the tips of his ears. Rhuben shifted her gaze back to him.

"If we tried again?" She asked. "Dan, we've had this conversation before."

"Not really, no."

She chewed her lower lip. Danny recognized that tell, she was stalling for time. Trying to figure out a way to collect her thoughts before speaking. That's something else that set her apart from her siblings when the most obvious nuances came down to it; she tried to think things through. Riley was rapid-fire with her thoughts and was not one to hold back with her blunt honesty, Patrick typically preferred to say what came to mind, Noah tended to think while he spoke, and Sydney was always very precise form the beginning.

"I'm not trying to push you into anything, I'm just saying," Danny said quickly, sensing her hesitation. "I think about it a lot. We have a lot in common and we get along well, you were one of the better girlfriends I had in a while."

"Until you got bored of me," Rhuben pointed out.

"You didn't give me the chance to get bored of you."

"It was going to happen."

"How do you know?"

"Are you denying it?"

No, he wasn't denying it exactly. As sad as it was, there always had been a shelf life to his relationships. A certain point where he found things that he found out about his girlfriends not being exciting anymore, but…bland. Where he dreaded having to see them rather than hanging out with his friends. That's probably where it became messy, that they were friends first and worked together, so they couldn't get away from each other even if they wanted to. But he had been telling the truth, he didn't get the chance to become bored of her. He could see it potentially happening but it hadn't…and while he was confused when she started the conversation that led to their breaking up he at least respected her decision about it and continued to date after her.

But part of him always held that confusion and frustration over it.

"No," he finally said.

Rhuben smiled and poked him in the cheek. "You hesitated."

"I had to think about it."

"You hesitated."

"Whatever."

The two laughed again. They continued to dance along to the song and then it shifted to another fast one, quickly pushing away the somewhat tense conversation around them. On one twirl around the floor, Danny noticed Rhuben's eyes shift to the side. "What?" He asked. He turned his head to follow her gaze, spotting it fairly quickly.

Riley was sitting at the bar on a stool with Matt in front of her, his hands resting on the bar around her. The two smiled and laughed with each other, then Matt leaned in to say something in her ear, that made her laugh again, swatting him on the arm when he leaned back. Then her head shifted to the side when Dougie collapsed onto the seat next to her. He dropped his head onto the counter and said something to the two before sitting up, placing his beer on the counter. He continued to sway back and forth until Riley reached over and pushed his beer bottle away and stood by his side, holding him up.

Dougie leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder, nearly falling to the floor, while Matt frowned.

Danny turned to look at Rhuben, silently asking her again what was wrong. "Nothing," she said.

* * *

 **A/N:** As I've needed to do recently, I apologize for the wait on this update. Things get in the way sometimes, you know?

 **~Riley**


	8. Chapter 8

"Marco! Polo!"

Riley turned her head to the side as Dougie swept out his arm and splashed water in her face. She turned back and splashed him back, laughing. "You're supposed to wait for the _other_ person to say 'Polo', Dougs."

"Where's the fun in that?" Dougie asked. He splashed her back then turned over onto his back, gently floating to the other side of the pool.

"I'm assuming that's another game that you lot made that makes zero sense."

"Yep!"

Dougie reached out as he approached the side of the pool and picked up his beer, taking a quick sip before sticking it back on the concrete. Lifting his foot, he pressed against the side of the pool and floated back towards Riley. His head bumped into her stomach and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, lifting her feet from the bottom of the pool to float with him. Not that she was doing more than standing on her tip-toes anyway.

Humming to himself, Dougie lifted his hands and started to play with the strands of Riley's hair that fell into his face. "You need to grow your hair out more," he remarked.

Riley smiled to herself. He did always like to play with her hair. It was rare to find moments they had to themselves, which was hard when they were consistently on tour and surrounded by not only their friend and family, but their crew, it was few and far between. But when they _did_ have those moments while Riley was doing some homework or reading, Dougie would usually be running his fingers through her hair or batting her ponytail and pigtails around.

It was a good time for him to recharge, being as introverted as he was, and she had time to get some work done. Though, inevitably, they would then go to find the nearest skate park or hang out with everyone else. They all liked their own space but they could never be too quiet for too long until everyone was winding down for the night. And whether or not there was a prank being played at some point even right before they passed out was never too quiet.

"I liked it when it was long," he remarked.

"Is that why you're growing _your_ hair long?"

Dougie made a show of running his hand through his hair. "If I'm going to be a model, then I need to stand out in some way."

"You're actually going to do it?"

He shrugged, but Riley could see the hesitation in his face. It was something that not a lot of people knew they had in common, a love of clothes. Apart from being the stylist for her siblings in their band, Riley always had an eye for clothes, maybe due to her interest in art, but she always found it interesting to see what people would wear and how it showed who they truly were. (Though she was never one to keep up specifically with what was in style). Dougie, on the other hand, had a quieter love for fashion. At one point he had his own clothing line—Zukie—named after his first pet lizard, and growing out of his skater style with oversized shirts and shorts he started to pay more attention to it. He looked through men's fashion magazines and followed fashion week as much as possible.

Compared to his silent nature when around people he didn't know and his wacky one around people he did, it wasn't something they would first come up with for him.

"I want to talk to Fletch and Jake about it a little bit more, but yeah, it's something I'm really interested in checking out. I reckon, if anything, it will be a good way to know the clothing industry inside and out in case I want to start another line."

"That's smart," Riley agreed. She smacked his chest, laughing when he made a whining sound. "Though I'm still pissed you didn't listen to me when I said it before."

"I used to keel over anytime someone would hold a camera up to my face, I don't think I would've been good back then," he reminded her.

"True. But you would've gotten a lot of attention for being the fainting model, yeah?"

"Shut up."

Reaching up, Dougie pushed against Riley's stomach, making her release his grasp against her and fall back into the water. The chlorine stung her eyes for a moment, clear blue water swirling around her as she allowed herself to float a little bit. Then, pressing her foot against the bottom of the pool, she popped through the surface, using both of her hands to smooth her hair back from her face.

Dougie reached out his hand to wipe water droplets off her cheeks then leaned in. Riley turned her head to the side, ducking out of the way at the same time. "Nice try," she said voice low but with a little lift to it. Anything to keep him from being embarrassed.

She could already see the disappointment in his eyes. But she didn't have to look at his face to know that, she knew him well enough to see

A frustrated sigh escaped Dougie's lips. "Do you at least think about getting back together?"

"You've asked me that about every three months for the last year, Dougs," She said. Frustration came to her voice as well. They'd have this conversation enough times for him to know her stipulations.

"And you always say 'no'."

"Exactly. And you _know_ why."

Dougie rolled his eyes. "And you think I'm being repetitive."

Riley's eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry if my only stipulation is making life so bloody hard for you, mate," she snapped. "But I think I'm justified knowing you have a problem." Dougie's eyebrows rose, almost in disbelief. He snorted and looked away from her. That made her temper flare even more. "Can you give that up?" Riley motioned over to the beer that warmed in the sun.

"I don't need to 'give it up' because I don't have a problem," Dougie said.

"That's your second one this morning!"

"So I like to unwind a little bit, it's not a big deal!"

"Harry was just in a fucking _coma_ because of his drinking, Doug. You think I want that to happen to you?"

"I know my limits. And I know when to stop."

"Right, when you're puking all over the ground and practically crawling from room to room and I have to make sure you don't choke on your vomit."

"Cheers." Dougie ran a hand through his hair. His already small eyes narrowed into a glare that matched Riley's but couldn't combat her intensity. He was never one to get so angry but when the time came he would match wits with the best of them. Especially when the other person knew why he upset. "I never asked you to help me."

"Neither did Robert and I got beat up for my troubles. I'd at least hope that one of my best friends would be a little more appreciative, yeah?" Shaking her head, Riley turned and climbed out of the pool, grabbing her towel and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Do you think I want to sit and watch you try to commit suicide again? Because that's what's going to happen if you keep doing this."

Stubbornly, Dougie crossed his arms. "I don't have a problem," he repeated.

"Then you can forget it." Riley used the corner of her towel to wipe droplets from her cheeks. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Dougs."

"Nothing's going to happen."

"Can you really promise me that?" He lowered his blue eyes, unable to look her in the eye. That was all Riley needed to know. "That's what I thought. You know I'll help you whenever you need it, mate, but I'm not going to sit back and fucking watch you die."

She turned on her heel and walked back into the house. The moment she walked into the kitchen, she bumped into Matt, coming out to get her and Dougie. "Hey, we have to get to the studio in twenty minutes," he said. Then he paused and looked at her red face. "Is everything alright?"

"Why?" She asked.

"Because your face is as red as a fucking strawberry. And, I head you yelling."

"I wasn't yelling, Mattie. I was trying to get Dougie to understand something."

"Bullshit."

"No, that part's true."

"I meant that you weren't yelling."

"I can belt with the best of them, I project very well," Riley said flatly.

Matt smirked. Then he looked at her seriously, nodding his head back towards the pool where Dougie was making his way up to the house. "Take it from me; forcing him to get help isn't going to work. He won't admit he has a problem until he feels he actually has a problem. And even then, he has to make the decision to want help, he can go to rehab as many times as anyone else wants but _he_ has to be the one to decide to want to go."

"I've heard that one many times before, yeah? As a matter of fact, I remember saying it." Riley pulled her hair back from her face. "Sometimes, though, it's better to have someone make that decision for you when things get that aggro and you're being that much of a boofhead." Her eyes shifted. How ironic. There were many areas of her life she had no control of and here she was trying to do it to someone else.

"I'm just saying…." Matt licked his lips. "He'll probably respond better to someone who's been through it before. Like…with his dad, you can help with that no questions asked."

An image of Elliot and Robert suddenly flashed into Riley's head. Elliot was certainly less intimidating than Robert was but he did manage to hurt Dougie just as much, if not more, than Robert had hurt her and her siblings. She'd seen how Dougie turned in on himself when his father was mentioned and became coldly quiet when his sister continued to gush about him. If anything she thought he had it worse, Elliot had only hit him, not his sister and they both kept it quiet. So Jazzie knew next to nothing about Dougie's distance from him other than when he left.

Robert, on the other hand, had serious drinking issues with alcohol and while he had a background of being abused himself, it wasn't an excuse. But there were many times she and her siblings had seen Robert when he was truly himself; when he cared for them, when he actually laughed and had fun, and when he showed he knew what he was doing with their music career. Too bad it was few and very far between his moments of being a complete asshole.

 _And now he wants to adopt a kid,_ Riley thought. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, listening to what Matt had to say.

"And besides, it's starting to get a little sad watching you fucking mother hen him," Matt continued.

Riley rolled her eyes, but didn't take offense to his words. She never did, she liked him that much. "If you knew why, Mattie, you wouldn't comment about it."

"So tell me," he said calmly.

"I can't," she said just as calm. "He made me promise not to. And that one of the things in life I take very seriously. If I could, you'd be the first to know, yeah?"

Matt's eyes lit up mischievously and he scratched at his ear. "I'd hope so if it was that you were in your bathers."

Now she got it. It should've been obvious, really. "Awww, you're jealous."

"Yeah, the fucking green eyed monster is hitting full force." She wasn't quite sure if he was being sarcastic. It didn't help much that he cursed nearly as much as she did. Nevertheless, she was sure her face had turned red and this time it wasn't because she was mad. Riley's lips pulled back into a smirk, her own eyes flashing mischievously as she said, "Eh, black's more your color anyway."

Riley hurried up to the floor she and her siblings shared and quickly took a shower before going to her room to change into her clothes. She had just finished getting dressed when there was a knock on the door and Sydney poked his head in. "Ri-Ri, are you ready to go? I don't want Fletch to get us stuck in his tardiness speech."

"I don't want that either." She paused, looking at her baby brother for a moment. "Actually, could you get the rest of em' in here? I want to talk about something. I'll take the blame if we're late."

Sydney shrugged. "Okay." He turned to the door, taking in a deep breath. "RHU-RHU, PAT, NO! RILES NEEDS YOU!" He shouted, voice echoing along the walls around him. Riley removed her fingers from her ears when Sydney turned back to her, bouncing down onto her bed. "Were you and Dougie arguing earlier?"

"I know you like to eavesdrop, Syd, but that's not the conversation we're having right now."

"Uh-oh. Am I in trouble?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because the only time you ever try to avert a conversation off you is if there's a more serious one you want to talk about." He paused, eyebrows lowering in concern. "Ronan told you, didn't he?"

"Told us what?" Patrick walked into the room and leapt onto Rhuben's bed in a flying leap, seconds before Noah landed on top of him, having jumped seconds after him. "Ow! Get off!" Instead of doing as was requested, Noah sat up so that he was sitting on his brother's back.

Sydney brought his hands to his lap, twisting his fingers. "Um, that…I'm thinking of leaving the band," he said. "It was just an idea; I haven't actually decided what I'm going to do yet."

"Whoa, whoa, relax Little Man." Rhuben held up her hands, eyes widening a little. "You're acting like we're going to attack you or something."

"I was thinking about it," Patrick said, honestly. His voice was muffled as his face was pressed into the mattress. Then he placed his hands on Rhuben's bed and quickly shifted upwards, bucking Noah off his back and onto the ground with a low thud. "Seriously, Syd, you're acting like the rest of us haven't wanted to quit at some point."

Sydney let out a long sigh. "I know, but…I'm _seriously_ thinking about it."

"Because of Anna?" Noah asked.

Now Sydney rolled his eyes. "Not because of Anna, she's not freaking Yoko Ono. I'm not going to let a girl get between me and my family." He twisted his mouth, dimple appearing in his cheek. "I reckon, it's…everything. I don't…I don't feel like I've ever really been able to be myself. I've only been the youngest to get this award or that award or the youngest to do this or that. Or just known as Reed's son. I haven't had a chance to do things as just myself; I haven't been able to hang out with my friends for a long time. Just hang out with them. The McFly and Busted boys are my mates, yeah, but they're more your friends. I haven't been around people my age practically since I was born." He was starting to ramble, he knew he was.

But the silence from his siblings was very disconcerting, they were _never_ quiet.

"Are you mad?" He finally asked.

"I'd be madder if you didn't tell us this until after we got back from the tour," Noah said.

"Right." Riley smiled. "We get back and it's like by the way, you don't have a job anymore. Cheers, mate."

"I'm not _that_ bad. I was going to tell you." Sydney tugged at the strings of his shoelaces. "I just…I don't like the idea of being the one that ends things, yeah?"

"Who said we're ending forever? And even if we were, you know we'd still work together. Hell, if there's anyone in the world that deserves the break, it's us." Patrick threw his hands into the air. "You've been working basically your entire life, and the rest of us can barely remember a time when we _weren't_ working."

"Yeah," Sydney agreed. "And you remember mum and dad very well, too."

There was a brief moment of silence before Riley changed the subject back. "Listen, Little Man. You know if there's anything about this you wanted to talk about we'll be there to listen. Especially when it comes to our work, we're a team first and foremost, through our band and through our family. You shouldn't be worried about it. Besides," she tilted her head, rolling her eyes. "How many times have we _actually_ made decisions without debating at some point?"

"Never," the five said in unison and started to laugh.

Noah then swiped his hair from his face with his hand and asked, "What were you and Dougie arguing about?"

"Hm, I must've been yelling louder than usual," Riley remarked.

"No, we're all just very nosy," Patrick said. He rested his cheek in his palm. "Didn't you notice all of us sitting at the window listening?" He continued before Riley could answer, "We couldn't really hear anything, but we were listening."

A wave of relief washed over Riley. She was going to tell them eventually, or at least Rhuben. It was harder to talk about these things with her brothers as they hadn't been around it so much. "We argued about the same thing we always argue about," Riley said with a wave of her hand. "Dougie drives me bloody bonkers and I equally love and hate him for it."

"So then it was probably a good thing that we sent Mattie out to get you, sis," Rhuben said. Sydney grinned as the four shared knowing looks, making Riley roll her eyes. Rhuben then elbowed her sister in the side. "Must've made that conversation much easier to handle."

Riley rapidly raised and lowered her eyebrows, making her and her siblings laugh again.

* * *

 **A/N:** There's going to be more with James, soon. So far I've managed to go in a circle with the focus on characters fine but it will be done a bit better as things goes on.

 **~Riley**


	9. Chapter 9

It was a sunny day that was to be enjoyed.

And there was nothing more than a sunny day that McFly, Busted, and the DarkElements enjoyed. So much so that it was a day meant to be spent outside before they were stuck in production meetings, appearances, recording studios, and hotels more often than not. The day started with Tom insisting that everyone clean the house. Well, his way of insisting it had been when he started to clean at about six in the morning. Vacuuming.

Busted and The DarkElements were lucky that they were on the top two floors as they didn't hear the constant humming of the machine. Danny, Dougie, and Harry, unfortunately, were the ones who were stuck with the onslaught of noise. Dougie, for the most part, was woken up from a hangover and grumbled to himself as he leaned against the doorframe to his room, bloodshot eyes glaring over at Tom.

"Dude, my head hurts," he mumbled. " _Why_ do you have to do this right now?"

"This place needs to be cleaned," Tom replied. He coiled the cord up in his hand as he continued to push the vacuum back and forth along the floor of the basement. He walked it around the couch, chairs and TV. Tom wiped sweat off his forehead. "We all agreed that we were going to do a big clean every Saturday and we needed to do it. This place is right filthy. Have you seen the loos? They were so gross before I cleaned them."

"Couldn't he have shoved his head into the toilet for a little bit?" Danny muttered, rubbing his eyes. "At least give us some peace and quiet for a while?"

Harry, on the other hand, walked over to Tom and grabbed the cord and ripped it from the wall. Tom turned and glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"What are _you_ doing? Mate, we're trying to sleep," Harry shot back.

"You wouldn't have to worry about it so much if you would actually go to sleep at a normal, respectable time at night," Tom pointed out calmly. Harry looked at him for a long moment, his eyes widening and Tom lifted a finger before Harry could response and said, "There's nothing wrong with wanting to go to sleep at ten at night."

"It is when you're not an old man," Harry said. Tom finally managed a smile at Harry's comment, making him smile a little too. Then Harry reached up and rubbed the sleep form his eyes. "Come on, mate, why are you doing this?"

"I don't know, I just had a sudden burst of energy and needed to get all of this done," Tom said. "Besides, the longer we waited to do this, the less we have to worry about it later. This can be fun, and the last thing I want to think about is cleaning up a messy house."

"Right, but did you have to be so noisy?"

"I can't turn down the volume on a vacuum, mate," Tom said. He shrugged and picked up his phone. "Well, you're up already. There's no point in going back to sleep. You may as well help me out."

"I may as well strangle you, too," Danny said. "What do you think about that?"

Dougie mumbled something incoherently and continued to slowly slide down the side of the doorway of his room and fell to the ground, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. He sat there for a long moment then violently shook when Tom, with an evil grin, started up the vacuum once more, making Dougie curse loudly and fall to the side, pressing his hands to his head.

Harry laughed along with him. Well, Tom was right. He was awake now and they may as well get up and get ready to go. The sooner they got the chores done, the sooner he could get a workout in and the sooner they could all have some fun. Plus, cleaning was really starting to bug him. He worked hard to keep everything clean and cleaned up after himself, but working to clean behind other people made it hard for him to consistently stay calm. Not to mention it was something that had taken place of the drinking he no longer did.

He was never one who thought he was addicted to drinking and he certainly wasn't, but all of the time he now had when he _wasn't_ drinking was glaringly different.

"I'll get the others," he said.

"Cheers," Tom said. He bent his head and went back to work.

Harry passed Danny, patting him on the shoulder, before walking up to the main floor of the house, finding it eerily quiet for their house, before passing up to the second floor where James and Matt stayed. He knocked on their doors and opened them, sticking his head in enough to call out for them to wake up. Matt only snored in response and James muttered something before rolling over. Then Harry went up to the floor the Jacksons were on. He started by knocking on Riley's and Rhuben's door and stuck his head in, surprised to find Riley already awake, sitting on her computer.

Rhuben huffed as she rolled over and picked up a pillow. She draped it over her head muttering, "Close the door," before pulling her blankets up higher over her head as well. Harry chuckled to himself, seeing only her mouth sticking out for air amongst her fortress.

Riley pulled her headphones down from her ears and asked, "What's up?"

"Tom decided it was a right time to start cleaning up so we're just going to get started with it, okay?"

"No worries," Riley said. She reached up and closed the lid to her laptop, untangling her headphones from around her neck. "We'll be there in a few minutes." She lifted her chin and leveled her gaze at him, eyebrows coming together. "You said Tom was up to start cleaning? Normally the bloke is the one who's the last one awake?"

"He said he had a random burst of energy to do it and decided to do it," Harry explained. "Why?"

"Nothing, just that out of all of you, I don't think there's a good chance that Tom is the one that's typically up the earliest."

That was very true. Harry left from his room and walked over to the boys' room. He knocked and opened the door, finding the three sleeping soundly as well. Though when he mentioned that they were going to start cleaning they were all starting to wake up within a few seconds. By the time Harry made it back downstairs, Tom had finished singlehandedly cleaning the basement and directed the boys were to clean their own rooms—which Harry agreed to as well, considering how often Danny and Dougie let their rooms get to be so messy—before meeting up in the main area of the house.

By that time, it was seven in the morning and everyone was awake and started to break off to clean; dusting, vacuuming, mopping, sweeping, wiping down the furniture, throwing out trash, washing dishes, and everything that meant to make their house clean as per the rules they decided to abide by when they moved in together. And as most areas of their lives, their chores were filled with music as well. They set up a playlist of all their favorite music that blasted around the house as they went along and cleaned.

Then, as the day went on they moved outside and started to clean out there as well. While Patrick, Noah, and Sydney took turns to cut the grass, Riley and Rhuben swept up the grass clippings and power washed the outside of the house. Danny, Dougie, Harry, Tom, James, and Matt tended to the pool and deck area, cleaning up the pool, refreshing the PH balance and sweeping up before cutting the grass in the back as well.

Then, finally, they all worked together to clean the cars they brought over or rented. And with every member of the house being able to drive, there were more than enough cars to clean. Still, with the soundtrack of their favorites backing them they enjoyed getting the work done.

"Hey James."

James looked over when Tom called his name and received a face full of water. James sputtered and backed out of the way as quickly as he could. He was soaked in only a matter of seconds. Then he turned around, hoping to shield himself, just in time for Matt to follow up by dousing him with a bucket of soap water as well, all of their friends starting to laugh.

"So what's that?" Danny called. "Shower number one since you moved in?"

"Ha ha." James shook out his arms. "That's so funny." But his ever-present smile was still on his face. He knew they were joking and it wasn't mean spirited, there was some truth to it. He was a rocker and he took advantage of it when he was on tour, not showering as much as others. And, as it was, he didn't really know how to do laundry so much.

He told Tom the truth when he said his previous girlfriend, Gabriela, had done most of the laundry for him. When he was on tour he waited as long as he could to do it himself when on tour if not just continuing to buy more clothes to off-set the ones that were ruined. Not to mention he didn't shower too much if he wasn't doing anything too strenuous. He hated to work out in comparison to working creatively and writing songs, and usually only took a shower after a long show.

But when there wasn't time for a shower or there wasn't one on his bus…

Instead of getting angry, James reached over and picked up the bucket by his feet and threw it back towards Matt, who ducked out of the way, catching Sydney in the face. He blinked his eyes open and used his hand to push his hair back from face.

"I don't know what's more impressive," Sydney said calmly. "How fast _you_ managed to move, or that I can already tell that you smell better," he said to James, making everyone else make low 'ooh' sounds in response.

And yet James still smiled.

What wasn't there to smile about? He was in a band he loved, now in a new band that could be great, was able to work doing what he loved, and could hang out with his friends all day every day. Save for the fact that he could use his own space every now and then and he was living the life.

"Hey, look what I found!" Dougie ran out of the garage holding a water gun overhead. The hangover that he had must've been long gone because James had never seen him run so fast save for the times they played hide and seek. "The people we're renting the house from must've left it." He rapidly pumped the action on the water gun before turning and spraying it into Noah's face.

Noah leapt backwards and brought his hands up to cover his chest and face, nearly kneeing himself in the face as he did so. "Ahh! That's cold!"

James whipped around and grabbed onto another bucket just as Rhuben grabbed onto it. The two tugged it back and forth between them before James, smartly, let go, allowing the bucket to fly back and send a wave of water over her.

"Ahh! My eyes!" She cried. Backing away, Rhuben waved her hands by her face. "My mascara is in my eyes! It _burns_!"

"You put on mascara to clean?" Matt asked. He reached over and used the bottom of his dry shirt to wipe at her eyes, laughing as it continued to smear. "I knew you liked to look good but—"

"—no!" Rhuben smacked him on the stomach, making him cry out in pain and laugh harder. "I didn't wipe it off before I went to sleep. Now I can't see!" She blinked rapidly and grabbed the bottom of his shirt and buried her face in it, rapidly wiping at her eyes. "It burns!"

"This should help wash it away." Riley picked up the gun from Dougie and pumped the action, spraying her sister in the face, this time her screams coming from the coldness of the water. Riley's eyes widened in surprise and she lowered the gun to examine it. "Wow, that really _is_ cold."

Rhuben glared at her sister. "You think?"

Then Riley screamed when a blast of cold water hit her in the back from another water gun that Tom and Harry had produced from the garage. Then, seconds later, the group of friends raced around the front yard, spraying each other with water from hoses, water guns, and buckets they filled as they went.

Harry charged around, taking down everyone that stopped to change water and fill up their guns. Then Harry backed away and watched as his friends raced around. A day that was starting out as a nightmare for him was already starting to be a really great day for them. There was only so much they could do and have an actual good time, in their line of business. Appearances, interviews, TV shows and the like weren't things he was really, truly into. Just making music and hanging out with his friends could keep him energized as the day was long.

Going on this McBusted venture was going to be nothing more than exciting for all of them. And, of course, being able to do new and old music. McFly never got to do Busted music and Busted never got to do McFly music, being able to do both was as great as entirely new songs was going to be.

Plus, now that Tom was in a good mood it looked like they were going to have a good time in general. Harry looked over as another car pulled up into the front of the house and Gen and Jacqui climbed out. Just in time to go rollerblading. Though it was now probably going to take much more time considering they'd needed to get dry.

Harry lifted his hand to his eyes to glance at the sky. There was enough sun that they would be dry the longer they stayed outside. And the only rule from their managers was that as long as they didn't manage to kill themselves they were fine. So, Harry walked over to Gen and Jacqui and pointed his water gun their way.

"Halt! Who goeth there?" He called in the poshest voice he could muster.

Gen laughed, placing her hands on her hips. "And I thought you would've been done with the cleaning boy now. It looks to me you got distracted, eh?"

"With these guys, it'd be a miracle if they didn't," Jacqui pointed out. "Or the sky would start falling, whichever comes first."

Harry laughed. He thought for a moment then held his water gun out to Gen. "Tom seems to be in a pretty good mood this time, I think you could stand to take advantage of it." Gen smiled evilly as she took the water gun from him then asked, "He's really in a good mood?"

"Enough so that he got us all up bright and early to start cleaning."

Gen laughed. "Maybe I should have him over to our place to help out? We've really fallen behind with it. And it doesn't help," she angled her head over towards Jacqui. "That we seem to continue to accumulate more Harry Potter stuff than we can put anywhere."

"Hey, all of the stuff we have now is yours." Jacqui held her hands up defensively. "I'm not the one who has to collect Ron Weasley memorabilia."

Gen laughed and held up her hands. "Guilty," she said. Then she picked up the water gun and ran off into the fight with the rest of their friends. Harry watched her go before turning her attention to Jacqui, lifting his chin as he did so. "She seems to be in a good mood, too," he remarked.

"Yeah," Jacqui agreed. Lifting her hands, she rested them atop her head and smiled at him. "She's been in a great mood these last couple of weeks. I think getting over the shock of seeing Tom again and getting past those other feelings was easier this time." She sucked in a deep breath through her nose. "Though I keep telling her to tell him what happened, to explain things even further. I don't think anyone wants to see them get back together more than me."

"You'd lose that bet," Harry remarked. "It's almost all Tom talks about. But, hey, that could be a good birthday gift."

"Trust me, I'm working on it." Then something caught Harry's attention, something she mentioned. "Did something happen with Gen? After she and Tom broke up?" He briefly remembered there being a time things were tense between them after their breakup, but they got over it fairly quickly and were still good friends. He expected them to, they mad each other laugh and enjoyed each other's company too much for it to make a difference.

Jacqui nodded. "Nothing I can tell you, anyway. But hey, I heard you and Danny both met someone while we were at that party."

"Izzy? Yeah." Even as Harry said her name he couldn't help but smile. The two had talked nearly all night at the party. Mostly about each of their music careers, she'd thrown him for a loop when she revealed to him that she and some of her group had been their strings backup during their Wonderland tour. He honestly didn't remember but she didn't seem to be annoyed by it.

Danny, on the other hand, completely crashed and burned with Georgia. As much as he hung out with his friends that night, he continuously sought out Georgia to try and talk to her, using the best of his chat up lights and getting nothing in response. To nothing but good natured ribbing from his friends afterwards.

"So, you have to tell me, what's she like?" Jacqui asked.

"She's…amazing," Harry said.

"That's it?' Jacqui's face screwed up. "That's all you have to say, 'she's amazing'?" At Harry's shrug, Jacqui shook her head and rested her hands on his shoulders. "My poor, poor friend. You guys cry at the drop of a hat but you can barely talk about your emotions for some girl that doesn't boil down to talking about their bodies."

"Not all guys are like that—"

"I didn't say all guys are like that, I said _you're_ like that. Or at least you used to be. Do you think I would've kept dating you if you were like that?" She rubbed his shoulder and bowed her head. "I trained you well, you're welcome." Then she laughed and took a step back. "But seriously, this is what a girl's night is. As much as you guys get emotional about things it'd help you in the long run to do an actual night of sharing feelings."

"No thanks, I'd much rather dick about."

"That's what she said."

The two burst out laughing.

"If you guys are staying for dinner then I'll tell you about her, I'm sure the others will tell you all about her anyway," Harry said.

Jacqui gave him a knowing smile and changed the subject. "You're excited to start working on your new music?" Understatement of the year, it was all he could think about. Almost as much as he thought about wanting to have a drink every now and then. It was hard going cold turkey from that despite the scare he had but there were plenty of things that he could do that were productive.

He just hoped it wasn't going to be waking up super early to clean again. He'd certainly take Danny's suggestion and strangle Tom if he ever tried again.

Still, for their last free day before going to work on their new music, it was one of the best ones. The only thing that could potentially cause a drawback was Charlie's arrival the next day. Though it didn't look like it was currently anything that'd tear them down too much.

He had new music to look forward to and, potentially, a new girlfriend he was working on.

What was better than that?

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, they all deserved to have sometime where they're all happy, right? Writing the humor and happy moments with them all has always been a staple for my McFly writing, compared to my other bandfiction (BTR), so it's always fun to get back to. Sometimes I feel like not much happens when I do it, but I _do_ have a lot of characters and storyplots to roll through and that they continuously get pushed forward little by little as the story goes on. But I've thought of a way to have it all set up as the rest of the story goes on.

Hope you guys liked this chapter.

 **~Riley**


	10. Chapter 10

"How many times have we told you to not do anything that will potentially kill or seriously hurt you?" Jake asked, eyebrows rising when he saw the assortment of bandages, cuts, and scrapes along his clients and their friends.

Dougie lifted a hand, wincing as he did so. A smirk played on Fletch's lips as he pointed to the bassist. "Yes, Dougie?" He asked, a teacher calling on a student.

"Uh, yeah, never," Dougie said, making his friends laugh.

Jake rolled his eyes and Fletch and Ronan laughed. He brought the folder he was holding onto and slapped it up to cover his face. Then he shook his head, lowering the folder once more. "I never thought I had to. Rollerbalding isn't something that I'd ever consider to be that dangerous. I should've guessed something going to happen. But not that fast."

"In our defense," Harry said. "No one expected that car to come flying up the street like that. We really had no choice but to pitch ourselves into the gravel and the grass. I reckon it's their fault, more than mine." He tried not to grimace as he rubbed the knot that had formed in his leg muscles from earlier that day but failed.

Instead of reaming them out even more about it, Jake turned and motioned towards Ronan, who sat quietly with his hands laced together and resting on his stomach. "So why don't we start with the news that Ronan wants to share and then we can figure out everything else. Because Fletch and I've got some surprising things to talk about as well." Ronan glanced at Jake and Fletch, reached up to scratch at the stubble that coated his shin, then pushed back his chair to stand up.

It took him a second longer than usual to unfold himself but when he was fully up, he tugged down the bottom of his t-shirt and smiled. "Well, I've been hinting to this for a little while, especially as I've already given Syd his surprise with having his girlfriend come out. But the rest I needed to hold back on because there was a lot of meetings that I'd needed to go through before things could be official."

"You're kicking us out of the house?" Patrick suggested.

Noah made a face and asked his twin, "How's that a surprise?"

"It'd be a surprise to me, I'm suddenly homeless, yeah?"

Everyone laughed and James leaned forward, slapping his palms against the table. "Okay, so what's the surprise? You're holding us in too much suspense, mate. It's literally killing me."

Ronan smiled. "Just for that, I'm thinking of making you wait a little bit longer." He heard the cries of despair and held up his hands. "Just kidding. I'm kidding. You've waited long enough. So, the first thing is that Julius is going to be coming out soon to help you guys throughout your shows and he should be here in the next week or so. Other than that, your schedules are about to become even more hectic than you originally thought." Ronan first pointed at Rhuben. "Remember when we were talking about Dancing with the Stars? Well, I finally got confirmation that they'd like to have you on the show."

Rhuben's eyes widened in surprise, a big grin slowly coming to her face as her friends and family cheered. Danny, who sat directly to her right, leaned over and squeezed her in a tight hug before Tom, Harry, and Dougie piled on top of her in a group hug.

"Guys, can't breathe," Rhuben said from beneath the pile. But she continued to laugh as the boys all started to rock back and forth, threatening to knock them out of their seats.

"As a professional or the star?" Sydney asked, though he was just as excited as the others.

"That's what they still need to figure out," Ronan explained. "Because of the fame that you guys have, you're qualified to be the star, but the fact that you've won awards for your choreography as well as have been dancing for forever, you also qualify as being one of the pros. So there's still some negotiation that needs to be done. But they've got a spot for you." He moved onto Patrick and Noah. "And remember when we were talking about The Voice? They want you two to be judges on it along with Benji and Joel Madden." Cheering started through the room once more as Patrick and Noah high-fived and Sydney leaned over and ruffled their hair. "It's something they want for Voice Australia, so you can get a lot of that done when we're back there on our touring schedule." Then he turned to Riley. "And last but not least, you remember the auditions that you taped?"

Riley closed an eye, thinking for a moment. "Uh, for those two shows?"

"Yes, and I'm very pleased to say that, schedule permitting, they want you for both projects," Ronan explained. "For _Nowhere Boys_ and _Tomorrow When The War Began,_ you'd have a smaller recurring role, but they also want you for a couple of episodes of _Home and Away_ if you've got the time."

"I'll make the time," Riley promised. "I don't sleep anyway, you know that."

"Yes, but the last thing I want you to do is keel over," Ronan said. To illustrate his point, he held up a finger and let out a low whistle as he leaned his finger over, much like a felled tree. "No matter, we'll figure it out. I'm proud of you guys."

"So…does that mean we've got a free vacation to Australia?" Matt asked, rubbing his hands together. "I mean, some time to see the sights and everything is always a good thing."

"Yeah, we've never been," James agreed, smacking Matt on the shoulder. "A travesty if you ask me, mate. It's like we were never important enough to be invited to go."

"Well, since McFly managed to eclipse you right from the beginning…" Sydney trailed off and looked away as Matt and James laughed and McFly let out low 'ooh' sounds. Dimples appeared in Sydney's cheeks as he grinned, suddenly appearing happier than he'd had within the last few weeks.

"Okay, enough about them," Harry made a show of putting his hand on Patrick's face and pushed him away, using the wheels on his office chair to propel him backwards. "What about us? I mean, at this point I reckon we're a little more important?"

"Cheers, mate," Riley said, giving him the finger. She quickly put it away when Ronan gave her a waning glance and she smiled sweetly, bringing her ands back to her lap.

"Okay, so this is the part I'm sure you guys were all waiting for," Fletch said. He rolled his eyes when McFly and Busted both groaned, anticipating a long-winded speech from their manager. Fletch sniffed, crossing his arms. "Well, now I really don't feel like telling you."

"Oh, come on, Fletch, you know we have ways to make you talk," Tom pointed out, laughing when Danny went so far as to audibly crack his knuckles and Harry to sit up and mimic Fletch's arms crossed stance, making his biceps bulge. "So I don't think you want to mess with us as this point."

"Yeah, mate, you've got to consider our feelings and all that junk," Dougie agreed.

Fletch smiled. He reached out his hand and Jake slapped his folder into it. Fletch flipped through the pages that sat inside then passed them out to the band members. Fletch waited as their eyebrows crunched together, trying to figure out what the sheet of paper in front of them was saying. Finally, he clasped his hands behind his back and said, "Congratulations, the feedback for McBusted has been so great that the record company wants to send you on a mini-tour along with your radio shows. So, Matt, James, you're most definitely going to get your chance to go to Australia for this one."

"Wait, wait, wait." Tom held up his hands. "The last time we heard about it, it was only a _possibility_ —"

"—And now it's reality," Fletch said. "The interested in this tour has skyrocketed. It's projected that as soon as the tickets go on sale they'll sell out. We're already thinking of what can be done to get some of the biggest shows you could do. There's a lot of logistical work that's going to go into this and it'll _only_ work if we have everyone on board."

Now Tom frowned. "What about all of the music we were going to do with McFly? We've been really close to getting our sixth album going together and you know the fans have been waiting a long time for it."

Jake and Fletch exchanged glances before Jake uncomfortably asked, "Well, you can't expect to be able to put out two albums at one time. There's only so much you can do before you completely wreck yourselves. In this line of business, exhaustion is a real thing, you know as well as we do how difficult it is to continue doing this year after year."

Harry pressed his lips together. He looked away from his managers, knowing he was part of the problem. Had he not become to get stuck in the routine and dependency of alcohol then they wouldn't have to worry about this. He tried to catch the eye of his friends but they continued to look away from him, whether they blamed him Harry certainly blamed himself. There was nothing else that would've been the catalyst for the decision.

"But Fletch, we've _been_ doing it for over ten years at this point," Dougie insisted. "And we're just fine."

"Does 'fine' constitute having to cancel a lot of shows last year?" Fletch shot back.

Harry twisted his mouth to the side. _It does have to do with me, _he thought. He clenched his hands into fists, doing his best to keep his frustration from being visible. He looked over and found his friends were Just as annoyed as he was.

"We've never had to push an album back like that before," Tom said slowly. Harry could tell he was doing his best not to completely lose his temper. As a matter of fact, Harry had never seen Tom so angry in his life. Not even when he and Dougie had accidentally knocked over and broke Tom's almost finished LEGO creation of the Death Star. Tom hadn't spoken to them for days and by the end of it Dougie had wrapped himself around Tom's knees and begged him to talk to him again. "If we start now, then we'll lose all credibility."

"It might be a good idea, though," James said. He tapped a finger against the table top, also not meeting Tom's gaze. "It'd make it difficult to get McBusted off the ground if McFly needs to be promoted as well." Tom pressed his lips together. If there was anyone he was going to listen to, it was James. They'd worked together long enough to understand each other even if they were coming from two completely different points of view. They respected each other enough in that aspect. "I know pushing back an album is a hard thought—"

"—Only because we'd pushed back _Above the Noise_ and then we rushed to get that out and it ended up failing miserably," Danny aid.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Patrick tried to reassure him.

"Okay, okay." Jake held up his hands. "We're just giving you the information that we know. We're aware there are a lot of other things that needed to be figured out before we knew, for sure, what to agree with and what not to. Let's just put a pin in it and talk about everything else, okay?"

With that, the next two hours were spent on the logistics for McBusted and the radio show. They figured out what they'd be doing for a social media blitz, what they'd be doing for appearances on TV shows, talked about the questions that would and wouldn't be asked within interviews and what they could and couldn't say. They spoke about the different opportunities they'd have as that band and how many they would prefer to do—shows like Chatty Man—and which of those they'd prefer to stay away from—anything that had an overtly kid sheen on it. Then they spoke about the new image the DarkElements would be projecting that year, going along with their age-old tactic of switching things up with each new album they put out.

Finally, they mapped out everything that had to do with the shows they were going to do; specifying which radio stations they'd be going to, whether they would be doing meet and greets with fans, and who was the going to benefit the most, in terms of publicity through each station. Holidays were mapped out, flights were preemptively scheduled, and it looked to be the start of their new venture.

Next stop, their writing trip.

* * *

Charlie Simpson picked his bags up off the conveyor belt, glancing towards the others that stood around baggage claim. After a few glances his way, he tugged the brim of his hat down over his forehead. The second he pulled his hand away he felt foolish; New York City was a different beast, much different from London and not many people knew him there. He was very thankful for that. Having a lot of people run and scream and try to get his attention when he wanted nothing more than to lie low was one of the biggest pitfalls of being out in the public eye. But then again, nothing could match his love of music and sharing it with those who would appreciate it.

And that was his own personal pitfall, he could admit that now. He cared much more about what people that of him than he ever should've. But how could you continue to be in a band that questioned your legitimacy in everything you did; writing music, singing, playing the guitar—and take it all with a smile simply _because_ you were in a band? Things changed. People moved on. Opinions changed. And maybe that meant there were times that you had to swallow your pride and admit you were wrong, even if you weren't the only one at fault.

That certainly was a hard thing to admit, and he still hadn't said it out loud. Sure, he'd gotten along better with Matt and James over the last couple of months than ever before but that didn't mean that things completely changed. There were too many things that had been said that couldn't be taken back. Too many things that had been done that couldn't be forgotten.

There had to be some truth when people said 'time healed all wounds' right?

"That yours?"

Charlie looked over at the man who identified himself as his driver when he landed in JFK International. "Yeah, mate, that one's mine. That's the last bag."

"Alright, then we can get going." The driver picked up the bag that came around on the conveyor belt and pulled up the handle bar. He nodded towards the exit of the airport and Charlie followed him. He pulled out his cell phone and composed a text message.

 _Just landed._

He held his thumb over the SEND button then looked away. How stupid. How pathetic. He'd been with them not too long ago and then fell off the grid again. But it wasn't just falling off the grid, it was that he was finishing up his solo work. The same sort of thing that had caused the demise of Busted in the first place, though that was his own band. How many more times would he be blamed for the way their careers ended up when he wasn't the only one at fault?

 _They know I'm coming…_ Charlie thought, tearing his gaze away from his phone. He continued to his thumb over the button as the driver took Charlie's bags and shoved them in the back of his car. "Mate, do you mind stopping at a corner store or something before we get there?"

"Sure thing, you need to pick something up?"

"Yeah, a box of cigarettes."

"Things getting a little stressful for you?"

"Just a little."

* * *

"But Dancing with the Stars? That has to be really exciting for you," Tom said. His dimple appeared in his cheek as he smiled. "Everyone knows about Dancing With the Stars, it's got to be one of the most popular shows out there."

"If it's anything like Strictly Come Dancing, then yeah," Rhuben agreed. She held her hand out to Tom, who handed her a folded sweatshirt then turned to pick up another one. Rhuben put the sweatshirt away then turned and sat on her bed, across from where Tom sat on Riley's. "You have no idea how much I've wanted this. We watch the show all the time, even been to a few tapings when we had the time."

"Okay, so what's the problem?" Tom lifted his legs from the floor and crossed then, leaning back no his hands. "You sound like you're hesitating about it."

Rhuben chewed her lower lips for a second. "It's not that," she confessed. She let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Syd's been saying that he wants to leave the band and I think doing all of this would actually have it happen." Tom lifted an eyebrow, listening quietly. "Just the thought of our band ending is…weird."

"Who says it has to actually end?" Tom pointed out. "Why not take a break?"

"We said the same thing to Syd when he brought it up to us. He wants to have more time to be a teenager, I reckon I can't blame him." She reached down and started to flick her fingers over her toes. "All of that free time is probably going to kill him and he'd be begging to go back."

"I don't know, Rhu, it looked like he was really excited with your guys' new projects coming in," Tom pointed out.

She smiled a little. "I noticed that, too. I just didn't want to say anything. Syd's allowed to feel the way he feels, the bloke's been working basically since he was born."

"So what's the _real_ problem?"

Rhuben blew her purple strand of hair back from her face. That was a hard one to answer, especially as she'd never really talked to the boys about it before. Apart from Danny, Tom was probably the one she was the closest to of the McFly boys. Their creative sides aside, they were the ones who were more likely to sit back and watch things happen, be the peacemaker of those around them and figure out the best solution before speaking. Not to mention he was as great of a listener to any of her problems—even the most of her problems before had been trying to figure out Danny as a whole.

Still, she'd never spoken to him much about her eating disorder. It wasn't something that constantly plagued her, there were many times in her life that she didn't think about it, didn't have the stress and pressure that'd push her back into throwing up and obsessively dancing to work off everything else, that would make her write down everything she ate. Her recovery was a lifelong commitment and for a long time it seemed like it was the easiest thing in the world. Then she had a therapy appointment before going off on the last tour, speaking to Dr. Angelo—or 'Angel' as her siblings called him—about her worries of what being around a highly intensive tour with some of the most influential people in her life would bring.

Now, adding Dancing With the Stars on top and it was nothing but an open opportunity for anyone to comment on her appearance and to trying to do hours of dance rehearsal on top of hours of being a band? It was enough to make anyone relapse in their eating disorder. The risk was too big. Dancing and the band took her mind off it, but if she had too much time to herself the thoughts came back. If she _didn't_ have enough time to herself, she fell into the cycle of eating very little.

It was a hard habit to break and now it'd be even harder.

But being able to continue dancing for as much as she wanted? How could that be passed up?

"I reckon _I'm_ the real problem," Rhuben finally admitted. She wrapped her arms around her upraised knees and looked Tom in the eye. "I'm starting to do my head in with all of this stuff, yeah? Like, if you ever had the chance to write books, something you've always wants to do, you'd find a way to do it, right?"

Tom nodded. "Absolutely. Music is my life, but I have other hobbies I love just as much. Why not give them the chance when the time comes along? It'd be good to give inspiration back to music, when taking some time away from it."

"Yeah…"

Rhuben tilted her head and rested her cheek on her knees. As fun as it was, all of it was still work and requited contracts and pressure of some sort. What she needed was to take some pressure off herself and actually have fun. Rhuben gazed out the window, watching as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney all tried to tag-team against Danny and Harry as they played soccer. Riley, James, and Matt sat to the side, their feet in the pool as they watched with Gen and Jacqui who'd stuck around the house as they'd been at their meetings.

The girls were just as excited for their friends of the new ventures they were going to start, having the same questions they asked as well. It seemed like everyone was more inclined to juggle everything. The problem was, that'd been the start of her battle with anorexia. "Put my attention into something else, right?" She asked

"Exactly." Tom smiled.

Rhuben smiled back. She got up from her bed and bounced over to Riley's, giving him a tight squeeze. "Thank you, Tom."

"You're welcome," Tom replied, hugging her back. "But don't forget you said that when I have to wake you up early tomorrow to go on our writing trip."

"I'm just telling you now, mate, if you wake my up by vacuuming like you did with the other guys, I'll strangle you with the cord." Rhuben smiled to let Tom know she was joking and he smiled back. She couldn't help but notice that it didn't reach his eyes.

* * *

 **A/N:** I haven't forgotten about the Jacksons's back-up band, they were introduced to get the characters there (and they'll be mentioned every now and then) but won't really be needed until they get back into working on their music. How's the pacing for this story so far? Too fast, too slow, just right? Let me know.

 **~Riley**


	11. Chapter 11

Patrick let out a long sigh, pressing his phone to his ear as he listened on the other end. "If you'd stop crying I can give you an actual answer, Jewel," he said, lifting his gaze as Noah sat down across from him and Sydney leaned over his back, both staring at Patrick curiously. Patrick lifted a hand, letting them know it'd be a minute. As it was, he was having trouble breathing now that he knew the absolute truth. Had it really gotten so bad and he was too busy to notice? What kind of friend was he to dismiss her worries as nothing more than a girl being too emotional? "No, trust me, I get it. I'll talk to Ronan about what's going on and then we can talk to Alicia to see how to play things out. But as long as you're safe, yeah? You _are_ safe right? Okay, good. Yes, I meant what I said. I promise. I'll see you when we get back. Until then, try to enjoy New York a little bit, okay? I reckon no one knowing us there is the best thing. Hoo roo."

He hung up and tossed his phone aside, watching as it bounced off the hard mattress. So far it was the only thing he disliked about the log-cabin styled ranch house they'd managed to rent in the Adirondacks. Everything else already looked so cool. It was secluded enough that they wouldn't have too many distractions when they were working on their music, but close enough to the lake and the neighboring city that they could go in to get food when needed. The log cabin style came with Native American inspired quilt over all the beds as well inspired the art that hung over the many walls. They certainly didn't want to mess up that house any more than they have any of the others, the rent alone nearly gave Jake a heart attack when they'd picked out the one they wanted. A cleaning bill on top of it would've been even worse.

"What's up?" Sydney asked, pressing his hands against Noah's head, leaning further over him. Noah let out a low groan and shifted to the side so that his neck wasn't being bent forward. They werne't ten and five anymore and yet they continued to act like it. Sydney was the youngest but he certainly was getting heavy. "What's wrong with Jewel?"

"Yeah, you've kept a lid on it long enough, mate," Noah added.

Patrick sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in the front. He frowned, realizing how long it'd gotten. He needed another haircut soon. "Jewel's parents kicked her out of the house," he finally explained. "And she asked me not to tell anyone."

Noah frowned, his blue eyes darkening. "Why'd they do that?"

"Yeah, and who thought it was a good idea to tell _you_ a secret?" Sydney added with a smirk.

Patrick lifted his chin and glared at his baby brother. "Coming from the guy that ruined Ronan's birthday surprise four years in a row?"

Sydney's smile immediately faded and he pouted as Noah laughed quietly. "I was six."

"And seven and eight and nine," Noah said. He reached up and placed his hand on Sydney's face, pushing him off his back and onto the bed. Sydney rolled over until he was sitting up next to his brother and clasped his hands in his lap. Noah flicked his hair from his face and asked. "Why'd they kick her out?"

Patrick ran his hands over his face. "Because they found out that I'm not actually dating her," he explained. "And some other things, but that was the biggest reason." Noah and Sydney exchanged sympathetic glances and Patrick let out another long breath. "I thought she was joking when she was talking about it before but they _actually_ kicked her out. I wouldn't feel so bad if I hadn't agreed to pretend to date her in the first place."

"Uh, she's one of your best friends, of course you'd agree to do it, Pat," Noah pointed out. "Otherwise she wasn't going to be happy. And you know how strict her parent are, yeah?" He twisted his mouth to the side. "So what's going to happen now? What do you need to talk to Alicia for?"

"For now, she's going to hang out in New York as long as the rest of us are there. But Storm says she has no problem having her move in if it comes to that. As for Alicia, there's a good chance that it's going to get out in the media and the last thing I need right now is a scandal to ruin things before our music gets started. So we'll have to come up with some story about it."

Now Noah made a face. "Since when do you care about what anyone has to say about you?"

"I don't care what they say about me, I care what they say about Jewel and even if I was fake dating her, you know I don't like when people talk about whomever I'm seeing."

"I don't know," Sydney remarked. "You seemed to have a field day with that one girl that broke up with you when she moved away." Then he shook his head. "But let us know if we can do anything to help. You know Jewel is as much our family as anyone else."

"Yeah, I'll let you know once we talk to Alicia." Though as far as Patrick was concerned, a great as Alicia Walker was as their PR manager, it was never a good thing to have to spin stories for the public. Not if it wasn't something they were glad to be a part of. "Hey, why don't we go see what everyone else is doing? It's _way_ too quiet for nothing to be going on."

"If you're sure you're okay," Sydney said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Chances are we're going to have to talk to Alicia soon anyway because of the new projects we're going to be doing so…no worries." But he felt something clench in his stomach no matter how hard he tried to convince himself everything was going to be okay. It really was his fault with the way things had turned out. He hadn't been as careful with the lie they'd kept up over the years. And if he had been able to lie about what Robert was an d wasn't doing to them over the years, he should've been better at this. Patrick started to get up when his phone started to ring again, he glanced at the screen and quickly answered. "It's Carrie, she probably wants to talk about the party."

"We'll see you down there, then," Sydney said. He and Noah left the room and Patrick turned to sit back on the bed again.

"Hey Carrie, what's up?" He asked. "Better question, do you realize how big this phone bill is going to be. I hate to break it to you, but I'll have to charge you for it, mate."

"I have the money, Patrick, don't worry," Carrie Fletcher replied.

"Off those YouTube videos you mean?"

"Just because I like to my camera for a few minutes every day doesn't mean it's weird that I'm making money off it."

"It does when you don't have any friends." Patrick smirked into the phone when he heard Carrie's sigh. "And the fact that Tom does it too means it's just your family that's that weird."

"Speaking of my lovely dork of a brother, I wanted to run everything by you guys before I get there. My mum and dad have my tickets paid for and I'll be there the week you get back to New York. I'll get there the day before the party and I can surprise him that morning."

"How long do you think you'll stay?"

"Um…" he could hear papers fluttering in the background. "For the party and then for the weekend afterwards. So you're stuck with me."

"How terrible," Patrick joked, completely dead-pan. "I'm going to get so bored and annoyed of having you around."

Carrie laughed. "You better be joking!"

"If I wasn't, Noah would kill me. But I'll see you when you get here. We can hang out with Katy."

"I think Jazzie's coming along, too, so we can all hang out. We haven't done that since the show at the Hard Rock café….and when we were running around New York and tried to get back before anyone realized we were gone all night."

Patrick laughed. That had been one of the best nights they had in New York by a long shot. Being too young to drink at the celebration party (and because they hadn't wanted to hang around with a bunch of music executives) Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Katy, Carrie, and Jazzie Poynter snuck away from the party and ran around New York city all night long.

They took the Subway as far as it would take them and hung around the nightlife as much as possible; eating everything they found at open stands and delis and hanging out with the others that were out as well. Then, when realizing the party would be winding down within the next few hours, they'd raced back to the party as fast as they could, barely making it in time for anyone to notice they were gone. Thankfully, they had managed to keep it a secret the entire time as well. Good enough for a inside joke they referred to every now and then, to the confusion of the others.

"Well, hopefully this time we won't have to worry about any police either," Patrick agreed. "Hey, we'll see you when you get here, alright?"

"You got it."

"Hoo roo." He hung up the phone and headed down the hallway to find the rest of the house. It certainly was too quiet. Much like with puppies and babies, quiet around them was never a good thing unless everyone was asleep. He went down the stairs and passed through the living room, eyebrows rising when he didn't see the boys anywhere. Then he went into the kitchen, finding Riley and Rhuben sitting around the island with Noah and Sydney. "What's up? Where're the guys?"

"I think they went hiking," Rhuben said, spinning a lollypop in the corner of her mouth.

" _They_ went hiking?" Patrick sounded skeptical.

"Well, Harry forced them to go on a run because of nature and fresh air and all of that other crap," Riley said with a laugh. She pulled up her leg to her chest and rested her arm around her leg. "And they wanted to do anything but unpack so guess who's stuck doing that?" She motioned between herself and her siblings then gently jostled Patrick on the arm. "These blokes filled us in on what's going on with Jewel, anything we can do?"

"Oh you know Jewel, he bounces back fast and manages to do it all with a smile," Patrick said, brushing it off with a wave of his hand. "It's only when she stops smiling that you should worry about it." He changed the subject, rubbing his hands together. "So do you think James will try to kill Charlie before they get back or do you think we'll have our shot?"

"James couldn't hurt a fly," Noah said. "And even then, there'd be too many witnesses. But that's why I was thinking of doing something." He bobbed his head back and forth and shrugged. "But of course, we can't do it unless…" he swiveled his head to look at Rhuben, whose eyes shifted when she noticed all her siblings looking at her.

"What?" She moved her lollipop to the corner of her mouth, making her cheek bulge. "You think you need my permission to prank Charlie?"

"No, just wondering if you wanted to be a part of it," Sydney said. He blew his hair from his face and rested his chin in his hands, elbows resting on the table. "I mean, if him being gone so long has made you forget why you were mad at him in the first place and you're, like, madly in love or something—" He laughed and ducked out of the way when Rhuben tried to swipe a slap to the side of his head.

"So you wouldn't be mad if we did something then?" Riley asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

"No." Rhuben smirked back at her then bent to the side, leaning out of her seat. She picked up a plastic gallon bag that sat on the floor and lifted it up over the side of the counter to reveal a set of marbles rolling around inside. "Because I'm already ahead of you."

* * *

Ronan was startled awake by the sound of his phone ringing. He removed his hand from behind his head and picked up his phone. He glanced at the time in the left hand cover of the screen before swiping his thumb across the green circle that wiggled back and forth.

"Hello?" He asked in a tired mumble.

"Ronan, you don't sound very good."

Ronan instantly recognized the voice of his doctor and smiled a little. "Well, that's just because you woke me up. I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't gotten any sleep for the past twelve or thirteen years. I can't remember exactly anymore, being around kids so long can do that to you." He smiled, hearing the laughter come from the other side of the phone, then the laughter abruptly stopped and he asked, "Is that the only reason you're tired. I know kids can wear you out but I'm surprised you're not downright exhausted."

Ronan licked his lips, pressed them together. "What does that mean?"

"It means, Ronan, that I need to go back to my first statement. You don't sound good."

Ronan felt his heart start to lower towards his stomach, slowly, not all at once. "Is there something I should know?"

"Have you been to the city doctor lately? The one I referred you to until I need to get out there? I mean recently as in a few weeks ago, not your last scheduled appointment."

Now Ronan was wide awake. He swung his legs to the floor and sat up straight on the couch. He ran a hand over his face, scratched his five-o-lock shadow, and rubbed at his eyes. He knew when bad news was coming, he'd heard it enough when growing up and when he'd had emancipated himself. Over the years he'd grown to horn on the talent, using it to figure out when a song or a band was going to be a hit or a flop. Who knew the sixth sense was going to affect him in other areas of his life. Or maybe it was that he was very aware his limping was getting worse.

Not so much that others would notice, but enough that the pain woke him up at night more so than usual. Enough so that he had to start using sleeping pills just to get some reprieve. Enough so that he had to grit his teeth and try not to let out a gasp of pain when he got up first thing in the morning after his leg was prone the entire night, lifted on a set of pillows. He was careful not to move his body in a jerky fashion when his kid around.

It was getting bad.

He knew it.

"Long enough," Ronan finally said. "It's bad, right?"

"Where your last X-Rays are looking…considering what your physician has said about your progress with the injections you've made, it looks like things are progressing to the next stage." There was a long moment of silence between the two. Ronan didn't break it. "Ronan, I'm highly suggesting that your next round of treatments are more aggressive. If not—"

"—Just amplify the chemo I'm already getting in my injections, or change it with another stronger one if needed. I can't take the time off right now."

"Ronan, are you afraid?"

Ronan pressed his lips together.

"Is that the reason why you refuse to take care of yourself the way you need to? Or is it that you've already given up and this is the easy way out for you. If it's the latter, you need to think carefully, not just for yourself but for the ramifications it'll have for the family you're trying your hardest to protect. Listen, I know your kids, I've worked with them as much as I've worked with you. They can handle this."

"Thank you for your call," Ronan said. He hung up the phone and held it in his hand, staring at the screen. A picture of the view from his California office, overlooking the city. His favorite view where, if you looked hard enough on a clear day, you could see the sparkling ocean.

How much longer until he didn't have that view anymore?

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, I really need to do some happier chapter for these guys. It's starting to get a little depressing. Unfortunately, things are going to become a bit more hectic and drama filled for them all. It wouldn't be a life in the music industry (and with these guys) if there wasn't any.

 **~Riley**


	12. Chapter 12

Under the cover of night, there were enough pranks going on that Fort Knox wouldn't be safe.

Once they felt the other guys were fast asleep, which took much longer than they'd anticipated, the Jacksons quietly crept out of their rooms to the room Charlie had decided to take once they arrived at the cabin early that morning. His reception had been fine, but it should've been something he was a little worried about. How was it that he could come back to the house with wide open arms? Well, a little easily.

They had departed on the last tour on good terms, despite him and James still not talking out their problems, they were at least able to work together enough to sing the same songs night after night. And he didn't _really_ have many problems with everyone else. Well, one in particular for sure. One that he tried his hardest not to interact with in any way that was out of the ordinary. Was it petty to still be mad at an ex-girlfriend? Maybe. But breakups were more complicated than people saw on the outside, there were a lot of factors into it that was no one else's business.

But he could be professional.

Professional, on the other hand, was not something any of the band members had in their vocabulary when at home. Which showed when Sydney carefully, very quietly, turned the doorknob to Charlie's room and pushed it open. He winced, gritting his teeth when the door creaked. He heard a snort behind him and shushed Noah, who started to laugh at the sound. He shrugged in response and moved down onto his stomach, army crawling along the floor.

Riley and Rhuben carefully stepped over their brothers as they moved into the room behind them. Charlie snored quietly on the bed, giving them cover as they moved forward. Patrick pulled himself up to the side of Charlie's bed and carefully rose to his feet before reaching down to grab his brothers and haul them to their feet. They held fingers to their lips, waiting for another snore before they moved. Once they flagged the okay, Riley and Rhuben reached out and carefully pulled back the covers on Charlie's bed snickering to themselves when they saw how tightly he clutched his pillow to his chest.

Patrick, Noah, and Sydney carefully untucked ziplocked bags filled with frozen marbles out of the waistbands of their shorts and jostled them around so that the marbles slid to the opening. Waiting to be released like individual drops of water. Giving the signal, Riley and Rhuben stepped back so that they wouldn't get hit by any flailing limbs.

"What the fuck?"

Everything happened at once.

The moment Riley and Rhuben stepped back, the closet doors behind them burst open and Matt and James leapt out, wrapping their arms around the girls, lifting them off the ground. Then Charlie, who clearly had _not_ been asleep, whipped aside and projectile launched pillows into Patrick's, Noah's, and Sydney's faces, making them stagger backwards.

Then the door to the room kicked open against the wall and Tom, Harry, Danny, and Dougie charged inside, throwing buckets of water and shooting silly string all at the same time. Once they were thoroughly soaked, the Jackson collapsed to the ground, sputtering as everyone laughed around them.

"How did that happen?" Sydney asked, pushing his hair back from his face, water rolling down his cheeks.

"You can't prank a prankster, man," James said, grinning away. He placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head. "We've all been around this block long enough to know that the first ones who go to sleep are the ones that are going to be pranked."

"And it doesn't help that you have some of the most evil smiles I've ever seen," Tom added, still laughing, his dimple appearing in his cheek. He reached over and gave Charlie a high-five, pulling him out of bed as he did so, patting him on the shoulder. If there was any animosity left between them from when Charlie 'took' Tom's spot in Busted, it was nowhere to be found. "We all know it's initiation for the houses we move into and figured it'd be right fun to turn the tables on you."

"This isn't fun," Riley complained, wringing water out of the bottom of her shirt.

"From where we're standing, it is," Harry said and the guys laughed again.

"Yeah, yeah, I reckon you got us," Patrick finally conceded. He got to his feet and shook out his long hair, of which that had fallen from his spiked up style. "Better believe we're going to get you back, though, mate. I'm not going to take this lying down."

"Oh God, maybe we should've thought this through then," Matt said, miming biting his finger nails. "Now we've got a fucking army after us." He clapped his hand against Charlie's and said, "Now that that's done, we'll let you sleep. It's probably going to be the only sleep you get since coming around these freaks."

"Hey," Rhuben said, frowning in offense.

"Not you, you just got fucking corrupted by those guys," Matt said then kissed the side of her head, making her smile.

"Hey," Dougie said, now comically frowning in offense as well, going so far as to stick out his lower lip. He absolutely glowed when Matt leaned over and pressed kiss to the side of his head as well, making everyone laugh.

"Well, who can sleep now anyway," Danny asked, running his hands through his hair. "We're supposed to be writing some songs, may as well take advantage of the time we've got now. May be able to use it as motivation for some songs, too."

"What? You got tired of writing about boobs and sex already?" Patrick teased.

Harry's eyes widened in mock horror. "Us? Never." He rubbed his hands along his stomach. "But, you can never write on an empty stomach and we're going to be up for a while so who's up for some food?" He raised his hand into the air before turning and leaving the room.

"I'm going to take a shower first," Riley said, pulling a piece of silly string off her head. "Don't bug me unless the house is on fire." Dougie perked up and started to say something but Riley stuck out her hand and shoved him on the shoulder saying, "Stay."

He pouted, shoulders slumping before following Harry towards the stairs, jumping on his back, nearly knocking the two down the stairs as he did so. The others started to make their way out of the room and Charlie grabbed the bags of marbles from the floor and held them out to Rhuben.

"Don't forget these," he said with more bite to his voice than he intended.

If anything, he'd hoped he'd been able to keep his cool for a little longer. But when it came down to it, he was tired, thrust back into a situation that made him insecure, and really had no one he felt was a good outlet to vent to. A deadly combination for any of them but for someone who already felt like an outcast it was detonator.

Lifting an eyebrow, Rhuben grabbed the bags from him and said, "What's your problem?"

"Oh, nothing more than wanting to have a peaceful first night here and then having to deal with immature tricks."

Now both of Rhuben's eyebrows rose and she folded her arms. "Everyone in this house was in on pranking people and _I'm_ the one that's immature? That's bloody convenient."

Charlie sat on his bed and ran a hand over his face, exhaustion suddenly hitting him. Anticipation of something happening for a prank made him unable to sleep at all. All the while, it gave him too much time to think, going back and forth over everything in his head. Maybe it was a mistake, maybe it was a good idea…he wanted a final, concrete answer and it wouldn't be possible if he bowed out due to his own issues. He had to make sure things worked out for better or worse for some sort of closure. But this…?

He wasn't sure he could get over it, honestly. Not when his integrity had been attacked, not when it was consistently being attacked by those that didn't know him and the by someone he thought he knew so well. That was a tough pill to swallow and it appeared to be coming back up.

"It was _your_ bloody idea in the first place," Charlie reminded her.

"So? That has nothing to do with anything. We plan pranks on each other all the time, you're acting like I was specifically gunning for you. I could've easily chosen James or Mattie for it, but you were the last one to come into the house. It's customary." She glared at him. "And for your information, my brothers and sister were going to do it, too. But chances are, you wouldn't get mad at _them_ right?"

Charlie pressed his lips together.

"Go fuck yourself, Charlie," Rhuben finally said, her voice lowering to a whispered hiss. "If you can't take your own responsibility in—"

"You're going to bring _that_ up now?" Charlie interrupted.

"That's what _you're_ talking about, yeah? I'm not bloody stupid. And the fact that you're treating me like I am speaks volumes." A smirk came to her face. "I should've known, no matter how much time passes you're still an asshole."

"And you're still an emotionless robot, bitch," he spat back.

Rhuben shot him the finger and left his room in a huff. Charlie watched her leave, mentally trying to decide whether or not to slam the door behind her and go back to sleep. There was no point in it now. He was too wired to calm down enough to do so. His knees bounced up and down, hands pressing into his knees.

He was being a jerk, sure, but he felt justified in being so.

No one else would understand.

And the isolation was the worst part.

* * *

James leaned out of the way when Matt lit up a cigarette, blowing smoke into the air. He waved a hand in front of his face and looked over as Sydney and Tom both chorused, "No smoking in the house."

The tip of Matt's cigarette glowed as he drew in another puff and turned his head away to blow the smoke behind him. He gestured towards Tom and said, "You've brainwashed this kid, dude. He should be hanging out with his girlfriend and friends as much as possible but you've fucking turned him into your mini-me. Always following the fucking rules."

Tom smiled and shook his head, nursing his cup of coffee. "That's impossible." He jerked his chin over towards the Jacksons who sat around the table with him. Harry stood at the stove, making a stack of pancakes. "They're already gotten to him already."

"I wouldn't say that's a bad thing," Patrick murmured, looking over his phone. He stifled a yawn, growing tired after the pranking excitement wore off.

" _You_ wouldn't, but you lot are a terrible influence on me," Sydney teased.

"And you'll never let us forget it," Noah agreed.

James laughed and continued to scribble in his notebook. Words, lyrics, and melodies popped into his head all the time. He did nothing but get instruction from the world around him. Even sitting around the dining table drinking coffee, smoking, and having midnight pancakes was enough to give him some semblance of an idea. Still, he'd hoped Charlie would've come down to go over thing with them. As annoyed as he was with his bandmate, Charlie was always a great songwriter.

Yes, most of the Busted songs were written by him and Tom in some way, but Charlie always had his two-cents to give every now and then. _Maybe too late._ The thought entered James's head before he could stop it. It was a thought that always came to mind every now and then. _Maybe if you did this…maybe if you did that…_

But if 'this' or 'that' had happened, would he have met Gabrielle? Would he have been able to start working on his musicals? Would he have had the chance to travel and see so much, writing for other bands and singers? Would he have been able to write for the Backstreet Boys? Would he have been able to start touring with his friends and performing the songs he'd written but had never been able to play 'live'? There were so many things to think about and determining if staying in the past was always a hard one to figure out.

James was never one who dwelled on the past, but what did you do when the past continued to come back to haunt you?

"Plate's up!" Harry declared, sticking a plate filled with food between Tom and Dougie. Dougie immediately reached out and grabbed onto a plate, pulling it towards him so that he could grab a pancake by hand and rip into it.

"You can use a fork, Dougs," Danny pointed out.

"That's just slow him down, mate," Harry said. He ruffled Dougie's hair like a proud father, making Dougie give a childlike smile as well. "Besides, he'd probably just swallow the fork." He patted Dougie's cheek and turned back to the stove to start the next round of pancakes. "Rhu, your plate's next," he said when she walked into the kitchen, her arms still folded.

"M'not hungry," she murmured, sinking into a seat between Tom and Danny, pulling her feet up to rest on the edge. A harsh sigh escaped her lips and she ran a hand through her hair. "And please don't ask me if I'm sure. I'm sure."

"You got it." Harry gave her a thumbs up in reply.

James watched her, a grim expression coming to his face one that almost matched hers exactly. He knew that meant she'd been fighting with Charlie. Fighting with him was never a good deal as Charlie was one of the most stubborn people he'd met. In terms of business, that had been great to make sure they had their voices heard when decisions needed to be made. In all other areas it was a downfall.

 _I can only imagine what they fought about this time,_ James thought, continuing to write lyrics down in his book.

 _I know that we can never go back  
You told me that you'll never want that  
I get that  
It's clear that  
You're better on your own_

He tilted his head, studying the words. There wasn't a melody for it yet, so he wasn't quite sure how it all fit but it at least sounded good. The start of something that could be used later. Or maybe even passed on to another band. James tabbed the page, folding down the corner, and drew a star on the triangle that had been created. To remind himself to focus on that one when he had the chance.

"Shower's free," Riley announced as she walked into the kitchen, pulling her wet hair back into a ponytail. She quickly backed out of the way when Rhuben shoved away from the table and stalked from the room.

"That's was the world's fastest shower," Matt commented, looking at his watch. "Did you even get wet?" He ducked out of the way when she leaned over to wring her hair out over his head, causing droplets to run down his forehead into his face.

"I had to do it fast, knowing these two." She nodded towards Dougie and Danny. "If it's not a bucket of ice water being dumped on my head, it's worrying about whether or not they'd try to sneak a peek." She then noticed the stack of pancakes in front of Dougie and reached over to take one before rounding his chair to drop into his lap. "Or wore, finding the lot parading around in my clothes again."

"Oh come on, that was a good prank," Danny said with a grin. He leaned towards Matt and James and said, "Us four broke into her closet and put on every piece of clothing she brought and modeled it for her."

"It was fun, up until I realized how much they were sweating in all of my clothes," Riley added, tapping Dougie's head. He beamed. "I had to do a massive load of laundry after that. What with cooties being a thing."

Tom snorted around his mug and lowered it enough to say, "You were worried about cooties? And you dated Dougie for _that_ long?"

"Touché."

Matt frowned and plucked his cigarette from his mouth. He tilted his head back and blew a few rings into the air before stabbing it out into an ash tray next to him to take the plate Harry handed him. James smiled. He put his pen into the crook of his notebook and pushed it aside to take the next plate of pancakes Harry handed out. Soon the entire table was covered equally with food and empty dishware.

Eventually, Rhuben and Charlie joined them at the table, sitting at opposite sides, and they all talked about everything but music and what they were going to be writing and performing for their upcoming shows. Instead, they spoke about everything else; what they'd be doing while up in the mountains, going fishing, going out on a boat, swimming.

It was funny, James noted, how they were all able to write songs based off their experiences. But at the same time, they were terrified to experience certain things and avoided it at all costs.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, Jame is an observant one, isn't he? Lol. Hope you enjoyed it.

 **~Riley**


	13. Chapter 13

_Poomf._

Rhuben reached her arms above her head and caught the soccer ball with ease. She rolled it across the ground back to Danny and said, "Too high."

Danny nodded and extended his foot, pressing it atop the ball. Then with a flick of his feet, he bounced it back and forth across the tops of his feet before bringing it to his knee. Then he backed away to allow the ball to bounced once on the ground before driving his foot into it. This time the ball spun to the side and Rhuben shifted a few steps to the side and caught it before it slammed into her stomach.

"Too wide."

Now Danny frowned, placing his hands on his hips, watching the ball with an air of disdain when it crawled to a stop back to his feet. He spun around and walked away, running a hand through his hair. He reached up, ripping off his sweatband to toss it aside before glancing back at the house before turning towards the mountain range that stretched out behind them. Unbelievable. He'd been playing soccer for years, had the chance to join a national league right before going into the band, and he couldn't do something that may have been breathing to him.

"Dan," Rhuben called.

"I got it," Danny said, lifting a hand in the air.

He kept his back to her, resting his hands atop his head, trying to calm down. They were up in the mountains that was a beautiful landscape, very different from the city-life and countryside he routinely saw in England. This was supposed to be a place that would give them inspiration for their music and to have fun and the last thing he needed was to get stuck in his thoughts. Especially when he didn't have them so often. He was a man that liked to act, not one that liked to think things through so often.

If something messed up or he made a mistake, then he'd deal with it when it came. But when those nagging thoughts didn't leave him alone, no matter what he did to try to push them away, that's when he became cranky. Something that people rarely saw, considering how often he smiled and enjoyed making other people happy.

Finally, Danny turned back towards the ball. He pumped himself up, jogging in place for a few seconds then took a step back. He wiped his hands off on the sides of his shorts then jogged forward, quicks-stepping at the last second and slammed his foot into the side of the ball. It shot towards the goal and Rhuben quickly dove to the side and caught the ball. Danny hung his head before letting out a growl of frustration. Rhuben stood up, cradling the ball against her stomach as she walked over to him.

"Normally, you could give Beckham a run for his money, mate," Rhuben said when she came to a stop. Danny lifted his head and stared at her, pressing his lips together. "Or at least Gordon Ramsey." She dropped the ball and folded her arms. "Mate, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Danny denied.

Rhuben's eyes narrowed and she titled her head. "So you've got nothing on your mind at all?" Then she lifted her eyebrows. "Though, I reckon that's not a surprise."

Danny managed a small smile before sinking to the ground. He stuck one let out and pull the other in so that his foot pressed against his thigh to stretch. "There's always something on my mind," he said. "It just depends whether or not I want to give any thought to them."

"Ah, so your dad again, yeah?"

"Have you been watching me?"

"I've known your for almost ten years now, mate, it'd be said if I didn't." Rhuben looped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. Then she noticed the knowing smirk on Danny's face and—annoyingly—felt herself flush before quickly clarified with, "If I didn't _know_ you, mate. I don't _watch_ you."

"It's alright, love." Danny reached out and patted her knee. "You can admit it. I won't tell anyone."

"You won't get the chance when I knock your teeth you," Rhuben shot back. She smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Honestly, Dan, I don't get why you're still trying to get into contact with him."

" _I'm_ not, he's trying to get in contact with me." Danny licked his lips and looked away. Droplets of sweat continued to roll down his cheeks and dripped off his chin. "After seeing him at our show with Vicki, he's been saying over and over he wants to meet up. I ignored him at first but he wouldn't stop asking, kept saying he wanted to make things right."

"A few years too late, don't you think?"

"Yeah, just a few." Danny rolled his eyes, unable to keep his frustration out of his voice. A drastic difference from his normally jovial personality. "That's why I was constantly disappearing back then. I was going to meet up with him but every time he stood me up. And he keeps bloody asking me. And every time, like an idiot, I get my hopes up." He drew his arm across his forehead, smearing away the sweat. "I'm so angry at him but every time he tries…"

Rhuben watched him for a long moment, giving him the chance to let out the grievances he hadn't been able to before. Not a lot of people knew Danny more than the silly front man of McFly who never seemed to frown. Who wrote songs as easily as he breathed and had emotion course through them like they were nothing. Who was a lot more emotional than people gave him credit for. The guy she dated for a good while and knew better than anyone else.

"You know, I say it a lot, but I do get it," Rhuben said quietly. She brushed her purple strand of hair form her eyes. "You still have love for him and are ashamed that you do, even if he continuously lets you down. Continuously lets you angry." She sighed heavily, feeling a weight from her chest as she said, "It's sort of like what our Uncle did."

Danny's eyebrows came together in confusion. Not so weird, Rhuben noted. He'd never heard her mention this uncle before. "I thought your Uncle Christian was happy to have you guys in Canada?" Danny scratched right behind his ear, face screwing up in confusion. He'd heard of _that_ uncle many times. She and her siblings talked about him enough.

"He does, for a few weeks at a time before we start to work on his nerves." Rhuben tilted her head, giving a teasing smile. "I recon we made him prematurely go gray." Then her smile faded and she started to tug at her shoelaces, keeping herself preoccupied while she said, "I'm talking about my Uncle Talon. My dad's brother."

Now Danny looked dumbfounded. The same way he had when she said she thought they should break-up long ago. The _exact_ same expression. Rhuben frowned, suddenly feeling very…sad. How much did their breakup actually hurt him? He played it off well enough when she said she thought he was starting to and was inevitably going to get bored of her. He denied, it, tried to keep them together, even apologized—though she knew he didn't know what he was apologizing for—but knew there was no way to change her mind. And still, Rhuben had watched his expression despite the tears coming to her eyes and the feeling of immediately wanting to run to her sister and explain what happened and why they broke up. He'd apologized once more before rubbing his neck, a movement he made when he was nervous.

Somehow they still managed to be friends through it, no matter how long it took them to actually get back to being where they had been before. But Danny didn't need to apologize for this. "I didn't know your dad had a brother," he said.

"Not a lot of people do; we don't talk about him and he doesn't talk about us," Rhuben explained. She kept her blue eyes on Danny's studying his expression, trying to figure out what he was thinking, feeling. It used to be so easy before, but he'd matured now, changed. Sometimes it disarmed her how much he had. But she'd changed as well. He'd helped her do that.

He showed her how she was valuable as a person, valuable as a girlfriend even. That she wasn't all of the cruel things that Robert had trained her to believe as easily as saying the sky was blue. That she was a good person and how to like herself. There were enough things she kept from him, maybe he truly didn't know her at all?

"How come?" Danny's voice brought her form her thoughts.

"Because my dad died." Simple as that. "They were really close, only a year apart. He even thought of my mum as a sister when my dad only just met her. Once he heard the news…he couldn't stand to see us. I think because we reminded him of them so easily. Didn't go to the memorial service. Didn't go to the funeral. Didn't even go to the ceremony to dedicate a science wing of dad's office to him. My grandparents hated him for that as much as they understood how much it hurt. I haven't seen my Uncle Talon in…" she thought quickly to calculate. "13 years." She ran a hand through her hair. "Sometimes we think about contacting him but know he wouldn't respond. And sometimes we really get angry because a lot of the pain we went through could've been avoided if he had helped our grandparents take us in and not just Julius. But I understand his decision."

Rhuben waved a hand. "I know it's not exactly the same, but I know what you mean about getting your hopes up. Every few months or so we hear about how he's doing and how he'd like to see us, but then it doesn't happen. It's still too painful for him."

Danny's eyebrows rose as he listened to her story. Then he opened his mouth and asked, "His name's Talon?" Rhuben laughed and nodded. She wasn't mad. He didn't always know how to talk through heavy conversations. "So your grandfather's name is Teak, your dad's name is Reed, and your brother's name is Talon?"

"Actually, my dad's name is Tate, his middle name, which he mostly went by, is Reed." Rhuben laughed again then leaned back, resting her hands against the ground. She turned and looked around at the mountain range.

They sat in comfortable silence for a long while before Danny finally said, "Thanks, love."

"You're welcome, mate,"

"No, I mean it. I don't think I could've told any of the other guys this stuff," Danny said. He paused and bobbed his head back and forth. "Not without getting really drunk, first."

"What else is new? You lot turn into blubbering messes the moment you're pissed, yeah?" The two laughed. Rhuben looked at her watch then responded to Danny's question of playing a one-on-one game—though she was also very aware of his other implication—with, "Can't, I need to take a shower and get some food before Gen and Jacqui get here." She dusted off her hands before Danny reached out and grabbed hers, pulling her to her feet.

Rhuben smiled at her ex-boyfriend in thanks seconds before rolling her eyes as Danny teased, "Aww, getting tired of all of the handsome men around you?"

A snort escaped her lips. He wasn't even trying and yet he continued to make her laugh. "You try living in a house with a bunch of boys for most of your life and see their disgusting living habits and laziness. Then tell me you still think they're handsome."

Danny finally dropped her hands, making Rhuben notice the missing heat. "I don't know, Tom's been looking pretty good lately," he admitted. He flashed a hammy grin to show he was kidding.

Rhuben laughed hard enough to make tears come to her eyes. For her stomach muscles to burn. "Don't let _any_ of your fans hear you say that, mate," she said. "It's slightly better you're not related but not much. There are some people who are convinced me and Noah or Riles and Pat are in a relationship. And that's only the tame stuff." Danny made a face. "Believe me, we can laugh about it now. But it's fucking weird, mate."

Danny laughed.

"I'll see you later, mate," Rhuben said, backing towards the house. "I need to take a shower."

The moment the words left her mouth, Danny's eyes lit up and his lips pulled back into a charming smile. "Want some company? Conserve water?"

"Sure." Rhuben smirked at his intrigued yet wary expression. "If you have a death wish."

"Ah." He nodded, undeterred. "But what a way to go."

"I'll say."

With that, Rhuben turned and walked into the house, smiling the whole way.

* * *

"Move your arm. You're elbowing my fucking spleen."

Riley grinned, shaking her head. "You don't even know where your spleen is."

Matt smiled. "Maybe not, but you've got bony elbows." He shifted aside, resting his hands behind his head while Riley sat up on the couch, pulling her laptop closer to her lap. "Hey, I didn't say anything about not cuddling. Just that I was afraid you were trying to fucking kill me."

A patient breath sucked through Riley's lips. "Firstly, mate, you can live without your fucking spleen. All it does it level your bodily fluids, yeah? It wouldn't kill you if it were harmed. Secondly, your spleen is below your ribcage so I'd have to break your rib to fucking get to it. Thirdly, I'm doing my homework. You were the one who collapsed onto the couch and watched me for ten bloody minutes."

"I just wanted to know what it's like to still be in school," Matt said. He crossed his legs at the ankle, resting his heels on the arm of the couch. "Doesn't look very fun."

"It's not." She pushed her glasses up her nose and continued to read her email, frowning when she saw a few she'd missed over the last couple of days. Judging by the all caps on a few of the subject lines, they probably weren't good. "Not recently anyway."

"Why?" Matt lowered his hands from behind his head to rest on his stomach.

"Well…" Riley twisted to the side on the small amount of space she had between Matt and the back of the couch. She draped her legs across his lap, making him remove his hands from his stomach and rest on her shins. "With the program I'm doing at USyd, I've basically completely everything I need to finish in three years. But with going on tour so much I've had to go a little longer."

"Right," Matt said.

"I've been able to do most of my stuff online which has been beauty. But you can't do any surgeries or clinic rotations online. It's basically the last of what I have to do for my degree but I have no time to get it done and because of that I'm,"—she held her fingers a few inches apart—"This close to being kicked out of the program."

Matt's face scrunched up, his green eyes shifting back and forth as he tried to come up with a solution. "But, since Syd is saying that he wants to take some time away from the band, can't you finish up school?"

"I could, I have seven years to do it and I'm on year 4…" her eyes scrunched up. "I think. I get a lot of my work done fast, but I keep having to put off my actually being there and I don't think they can do that much longer."

"Well, all the more reason to put it down in a song," Matt said with a laugh. "I write about teachers I want to bang and you write songs about people you hate."

Riley laughed along with him. "I've never written a song about people I hate." She tilted her head to the side. "Of people I've wanted to kill, maim, beat up, am pissed off at, yeah. But not those I hate." A sweet smile came to her lips. "That would be cruel."

"Well, it's not going to help much if you stress." Matt finally stopped stroking her leg and grabbed her laptop. "You need to relax before your head pops off your neck. It'd be cool, but thankfully it's not my time to clean up the mess so…" He leaned out of the way, still holding her laptop when Riley punched him hard in the side. "Let's watch a movie. I didn't come all the way down here to listen to negativity about school."

"Excuse me, Mattie, I was minding my own business when you forced your way onto the couch and sat here and watched me. Creepily, I might add." Riley grabbed her computer back and shifted her legs to the side so that they were lying down side by side.

"It's not creepy, it's filled with love. I have a lot of love to give."

"I've noticed." A smirk came to Riley's face. "How many girls have you had come in and out of your revolving door once you started your band?"

"Hey, that stopped as soon as I started dating Emma."

Riley's eyebrows came together as she thought of what Matt said. It was true, he _had_ changed from being the member of the band that took great advantage of the many fans he had. Honestly, even she, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah had taken advantage of it every now and then. But the hadn't had it come out in the tabloids and other superficial rags that sprinted to get pictures of him drunk, falling over, and whomever it was he sleeping with by that point.

But when he met Emma Griffiths, he'd done a quick turnaround with his life. She was someone who really helped him figure out what it was he wanted out of life and helped him get into rehab. It was her ultimatums that had him truly understand what he was doing and throwing away. Since then, he hadn't had a drink or done any drugs, yet he also hadn't spoken about her.

"You don't talk about her, much," Riley pointed out. She opened her Netflix page and scrolled through the list of movies in her queue, trying to find one to watch.

Matt shrugged. "Never saw the point. I haven't seen her in a while." To that, Riley made a face. Didn't see the point of talking about someone who had a really big impact on his life? As far as she knew, which was basically firsthand knowledge, they broke up amicably. No reason to want to keep it a secret, to stealthily move through the crowd when they'd be in the same place. He noticed her look and asked, "You don't talk about your ex much."

"That's cause he already has another girlfriend."

She hadn't meant to say that, honestly. Though it was hard to ignore. Not many people were aware of how sensitive she could be. She took breakups hard; already hesitant to potentially have her heart broken and time wasted, anyone who could get past her walls were special enough.

But it sucked, with a capital 'S', when that romance played out online and fans became invested.

How many days in a row had she had fans in her Twitter and Instagram mentions saying they wished she and him were back together? Saying they were always going to be fans of the two them…

There weren't many things in life that made Riley blind with rage, but having others invested into her relationship and continuing to bring their opinions on it got her to that level in .5 seconds. How she managed to keep calm every time she got a new notification with a similar message was infuriating.

"What do you mean, 'already'?"

"Just…" Riley lifted and lowered her right shoulder in a shrug. _Should've kept your mouth shut._ "It didn't take him very long." Was she punching her computer keys? It sounded like it.

"Yeah, well, he's an idiot," Matt said simply.

Riley smiled her thanks before her eyes drifted to her forearm. She pushed her computer aside and grabbed his arm with both hands, leaning forward to look at the tattoo that covered his forearm. She studied the black and white of a woman's face then started to laugh. "Not as idiotic as you are, mate." A grin came to her face. "I'm impressed by a lot of tattoos, but I never figured you'd get a pin-up. You know there's a superstition about them, yeah?"

"I never believed in tattoo superstitions," Matt said. A slow grin pulled at his lips. "Besides, it seems to be working out so far." He paused, watching as Riley's eyebrows lifted. "It's you."

A shock of surprise made Riley tighten her grasp on his forearm. Matt winced and tried to pull his hand back, but found himself locked into Riley's grip. "No. That's not me!" She tilted her head, eyes narrowing to scrutinize it even further. _There's no way he's that fucking stupid,_ she thought. "That's not me."

"What, you don't see the resemblance?"

"I sure as hell don't." Finally, she dropped his arm and leaned back to look him in the eye. "That's not me." Matt continued to smile at her. "I swear to God that better not be me! Are you crazy? Do you _want_ our friendship to fall apart?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "I thought it was that if you were in a relationship and you got a tattoo of the other person in some way that broke them up."

"That too!" Riley looked up as Rhuben jogged in through the back door of the house and waved her twin over. "Rhu! Look at this! Matt has a pin-up tattoo on his arm."

"Really?" Rhuben walked over curiously. She leaned over the tattoo and smiled. "That's awesome, Mattie."

"Yeah, he's saying it's of me," Riley said.

Rhuben's smile widened and she patted Matt on the shoulder. "Then it was nice knowing you, Mattie." She exchanged a look with Riley when Matt finally burst out into loud laughter, wrapping his arms around his stomach. "What? Is it me?"

"No," Matt finally got out.

"Oh." Rhuben's shoulders slumped. Now she swatted him on the arm. "Then why'd you get my hopes up?"

"You want to get hit by the curse?" Riley asked her twin.

"I'm not dating him, what would it do to me?"

"It's of Emma," Matt finally explained. "I got it after getting out of rehab."

Riley's eyebrows twitched upwards. "Well, that explains it." She then leaned over and punched Matt hard on the arm with Rhuben punching him on the other one. Then the two girls leaned over him, pinching and prodding every area they could reach as he tried frantically to defend himself. Matt leaned out of the way, sliding onto the floor with Riley and Rhuben continuing to tickle him.

Riley flipped her hair out of her face and listened as she heard Dougie call, "Riley!"

"What?" Riley shouted back, making Matt wince and pull his ear away from her mouth.

"I need you!"

"Coming!" Riley untangled herself from Matt's arms and climbed off the floor.

"You think it's serious this time?" Rhuben asked, concern evident in her voice.

Riley opened her mouth to respond. Wanted to say she would rather be pulled away for something small than ignore him and find the worst later. Wanted to say that in this circumstance it probably was, but also knew the moment she said anything it'd just have Matt give her more than the knowing look he already was giving her. Annoyed, she decided to keep her mouth shut. No one other than her family knew what she was about to say and it wasn't anything she wanted to mention now.

Besides, it wasn't his business.

* * *

 **A/N:** What McBusted songs do you think this one was inspired by? Not all of them will be like that, but, you know, they're supposed to be on a writing trip so they need to get some inspiration somewhere! Lol.

 **~Riley**


	14. Chapter 14

It was the day of the bands' press conference for their radio shows. At the offices of Z100 the three bands were crammed into one large dressing room, talking, laughing, practicing their scales, and checking their social media accounts. Jake, Fletch, and Ronan continued to stream in and out of the door talking on their phone and other promoters and marketers for the radio station while simultaneously making sure their clients were ready to go.

Sydney sat off to the side with a pair of headphones over his ears, a keyboard sitting next to him on one side and a textbook and notebook on the other. His face glowed in the light of the laptop he sat in front of, frowning, trying to block out the sounds of his friends around him. He knew it wasn't their fault that they needed to be prepared, but did school work always have to get in the way?

"I know my revisions are late, Professor Layton but I've got a lot of stuff on my plate right now," he said to the audio chat tucked in the corner of his computer screen. "I can get it done in a few days, I just need some more time." He rested his chin in his hands, listening to the voice on the other end of the call. "Well, there's only so much you can do with the proponents of dark matter when there's technological advancements that need to be made and you're trying to re-work the radar cross-section of engines and the fluid mechanics that determine the aerodynamic rates of the vehicle." He frowned. "Yes, I'll have it to you in a few days. Hoo roo."

Sydney turned off the audio chat and removed his goggles from his eyes, draping them around his neck. Seriously, did people forget he was only fifteen year old? There were many times where he felt he could do anything, his brain moved fast enough for him to process it all, but there's still the time he needed to make sure things had the right amount of attention. _And people wonder why I don't want to go to college yet,_ he thought with a snort.

"Hey Syd, what's up?" Tom lowered himself next to the young boy and smiled a smile that made his dimple appear in his cheek. "Can't but notice you're looking a little stressed?"

"I've been stressed since I was born," Sydney replied with a small smile. "You can't be told you learned how to swim because your brothers and sisters decided to throw you into the pool and see if you could float without being stressed." He turned to rest his back against the wall he was sitting in front of and brought his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs. He smiled and chuckled to himself when he saw Danny and Riley, who were playing a handclap game, fall over laughing after Danny missed with the increase in pace and struck Riley straight in the face. "When it comes to schoolwork, I'm never not stressed. I just hide it well."

"But that's what you want to stop the band for, innit?" Tom asked. He quickly corrected himself. "Take a break, I mean. To focus on your school work?"

Sydney shook his head. "To be a kid. I don't really get much of a chance, yeah? On one end of the spectrum I'm famous, or at least well known, because of our band, and on the other I'm well known because of my mum and dad and now that I'm working on the same sort of papers…" he shook his head. "Sometimes, I wish I was unknown. Or invisible."

"Being invisible would be pretty boring wouldn't it?" Tom asked. "Then you wouldn't be able to talk to any of your friends."

"I said invisible, mate, not mute. I'd still talk to everyone just…I'm tired of being pulled back and forth all the time. I'm surprised my head hasn't exploded."

"I can understand that. And it's one of the hardest things you're going to have to go through for the rest of your life. Being pulled back and forth like that. I remember when I was about your age, maybe a little older, it was when I was first starting to get into music and acting." Tom mimicked Sydney's stance, bringing his knees up, wrapping his arms around his legs. "I had gone to Sylvia Young's school for a short while but knew it was what I wanted to do instead of being in regular school. My classes were boring compared to acting and singing. But I always knew education was very important. So when I saw the flyer for Busted I went for it. And, well, we all know how that went."

Sydney smiled, hearing the slight bitter tone Tom's voice took. He wasn't annoyed with Charlie about it anymore, wasn't upset considering how much he loved McFly. But rejection in general was something that was hard to get over. Especially for someone who was as sensitive as Tom. He could joke about it now, how he would've 'kicked out the one with the eyebrow condition', but the self-doubt was still there.

"After that, I had no idea what to do after and kept at it with school. When Raschman and Fletch wanted me to keep going with my music, I was stuck. On one hand, I knew there was a really small change of the band going well, but on the other hand I wanted to see how far I could get." Tom shrugged. "And look where we are now."

"About five minutes away from destroying another dressing room?" Sydney joked.

"I know, right now, it seems like every decision you make is going to be the end-all be all for the rest of your life. But it's not. There's a lot that can and will happen. But a lot has happened to you already, I think you just need to take a break."

"That's what I'm planning," Sydney said with a small smile. "Just being able to have time to hang out. But, I think I'd get bored really fast. Without the others being around" He ran a hand through his hair. "I know it sounds weird, but sometimes I feel that being a band we're able to stay together and, I don't know, I guess I'm afraid that once we stop we'll be too caught up in our own thing to still be a family."

Tom chuckled. "Considering what you all've gone through, I can understand that worry." Sydney hummed but didn't respond. He didn't truly think Tom got it. His parents were happy and healthy and, most importantly, alive. He didn't ever have to worry about them getting divorced or falling out of love with each other. Didn't have to worry about being smacked around time and time again for something as big as talking back or as little as breathing funny. He was one of the few of them had a 'normal' familial background. So as much as he loved being around his family, Tom didn't know what it was like to only have his family. "Your band can be your family, though. McFly wouldn't have been able to get this far if we weren't brothers as much as we are mates. And you know, you're like a brother to me, too. And I've always wanted a brother."

Now Sydney smiled so wide his dimples appeared in his cheeks. It was quickly replaced with him saying, "Then can you hurry up and get married to Gen already? I've got enough brothers and I could use more sisters."

Tom's smile faded. He nervously scratched the back of his head before lowering it to rub his stomach as it growled. "I, uh, I don't think that's going to happen," he said.

"It will," Sydney said confidently.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because realistically," Sydney said. " _statistically,_ with all the time we spend with each other feelings are going to change. And you can't turn off the feelings that you've had for someone before. Whether or not you continue to have the same level of those feelings doesn't matter much. Because in some way you're still going to feel it. Someone, out of all of us, is going to get married to each other and I'm betting on you and Gen."

"Why's that?" Tom asked.

"Because if you two can't make it, I don't have much faith for the rest of us."

"That's a lot of pressure to live up to," Tom said honestly. _You don't know the half of it,_ Sydney thought. He chewed on his lower lip, wondering if he should tell Tom what really was going on. He was as close to Gen as he was Tom, and knew that secrets never helped anyone. He was chock full of them and there were still things he'd never tell McFly or Busted as long as he lived. Ultimately, he decided against it.

As much as he liked to tell the truth, he found it very hard to lie unless it was needed, he knew telling other people's secrets was never a good thing. No matter how dangerous or bad they could be.

"Try living up to the expectations of someone who isn't alive," Sydney said instead.

"You win."

Didn't he know it.

* * *

Dougie rested his chin in his palm, looking down at the empty dishes that sat by his bed. Next to them was a large wine bottle, cork fastened securely in the top. He'd fished it out from the back of his closet. Was it bad he was already starting to hide things like that? Is that when you really started to have a problem? Or was it when you lied to people's faces as much as you told them the truth and joked about it? Or maybe it was when you were doing an interview and in the back of your mind you weren't paying attention to what you were saying, but how badly you wanted a drink to loosen up.

Interviews were never something Dougie liked. He preferred to sit off to the side and let the other guys talk until he was asked a question. He even preferred to do those stupid teen shows where he got gunged up by stomping on the end of a skateboard and launched a cake through the air than to anything else. Those games were designed to be silly and make fools of themselves. In interviews, anything could happen.

Any question could be asked, you could move on autopilot and spill a secret or say something monumentally stupid. So Dougie did as he always did before interviews, drank whatever was given to them. And it wasn't like he was alone in it, Danny had a drink, Charlie had a drink, and James had a drink. But Dougie was able to hide the two or three he had, just to get a buzz going. Just to loosen up enough so no one knew where his excess energy came from. It was easy enough to explain, he was putting on the façade of 'Dougie from McFly' rather than being just 'Dougie Poynter'.

And 'Dougie from McFly' was always up for anything. So much so that he had a good buzz going, already feeling warm as they went into the radio station and started their interview. The same questions they had over and over again; how did the band start, was Tom really part of Busted first, how did the DarkElements start working with McFly, were they all friends, how was McBusted going to work out? Dougie didn't remember so much of it, a lot of it he made a joke of, saying things were incestuous over and over again. He remembered that bit and the laughter he got from the joke.

He remembered how things got to be a little awkward when Charlie detailed why he left Busted and how it felt being back with them to work on that and McBusted. It got a little better when he said he had high hopes for how they'd all get along with each other as they were all connected by their love of music. They were asked about the close friendships with the band with the general consensus that they were all like family to each other, thus making Dougie pipe up with the incestuous comment once more, making them all fall out into laughter. James mentioned how, admittedly, he and the Jacksons weren't close friends as their personalities didn't match, but still had the same drive to wanting to be successful, just as Sydney said he sometimes felt he didn't fit in all because of the age gap with the others.

There were a lot of truths being thrown around but still a lot of things that wasn't being said. Dougie wasn't as dumb as people made him out to be, he was just quiet, observant. And certainly saw a lot more than anyone else would notice to see. Like how Noah was keeping something from his siblings, how Tom's attitude was slowly getting worse and worse, how Charlie and Rhuben didn't seem to actually be so mad at each other but didn't know how to talk through their problem, how Harry was slowly becoming very interested in this Izzy girl, how Danny seemed to be completely perplexed as to how he hadn't stopped Georgia in her tracks…

And how no one seemed to notice what was going on with him. Except for the one who he essentially told to go away. He knew it was the right thing to do, he was immune to the looks and mumblings of the way he relied on Riley to help him. He could handle it on his own.

Dougie smiled, remembering their conversation.

 _"Alright, what d'you need?" Riley asked, crossing the threshold to his bedroom. Her eyes zeroed in on the ice cream bowls that sat on the floor. "You know Tom's going to have a conniption if you spill any of that on the floor."_

 _"That's why we're not going to tell him we have it," Dougie said, stretching out next to a bowl. He made a show of dropping a pillow to the ground and patted it. Riley laughed and sat down next to him, taking the ice cream bowl he handed her. "One more thing he doesn't know won't bloody hurt him."_

 _"Just add it to our growing list," Riley agreed. She picked up her spoon and raised it to clink against Dougie's. He smiled as she made the motion, knowing she immediately recognized what he was doing. It was their special thing, whenever they had something to talk about they went to get ice cream and talked over it. It started from their first date, when they found a nearby ice cream parlor to the house they'd been living in at the time. "So, what's up? What'd you do?" She took a bite of ice cream and looked at him seriously, lowering her bowl to her lap, eyebrows coming together. "Is something wrong?"_

 _Dougie tried not to make a face. He forgot about that. How easily she could read him. It was nice when there were things he wanted to talk about but didn't want to say anything, but also very unhelpful when he wasn't sure how to express himself. "Can't I just want to have some ice cream with my best friend?"_

 _"Normally, yes, but considering the last time we talked it was when your dad was around, yeah?" Riley looked at him curiously, her eyes searching his. "I reckon it has to do with that. Has he still been contacting you?"_

 _Yes, but that wasn't the point. He ignored every time his father texted or called him. How was he supposed to talk to the man that not only abused him for so long, but also treated his mother like crap, killed his pets, and then left their family with nothing more than a few thousand dollars which was then depleted by immediately needing to pay their bills and have their showerhead fixed, leaving them in squalor._

 _It didn't help that Jazzie still saw he hadn't done anything wrong. Dougie understood, fundamentally. Their father had never mistreated her, never raised a hand to her, never had a bad word to say. She was his little princess. Even with their step-father being around for years—a wedding he was sure his mother regretted having invited his friends to—Jazzie was always excited to speak to her father when he called._

 _"Yeah, but that's not a big deal," Dougie said with a shrug. "It happens every few years and sooner or later dad'll get the hint."_

 _"You sure about that?"_

 _"No." He said it to so bluntly that Riley couldn't help but laugh again. "I, uh…" he ran his hand over his long ponytail, suddenly feeling very shy. "I just wanted to apologize. Or, thank you, I guess. Fuck, I don't know. Just something." He crossed his legs and started to eat large bites of ice cream. "I mean, I know I've really been pressuring you to help me a lot lately. But I want you to know that I'm not doing that anymore. I don't want to burden you with it."_

 _"You're not burdening me—"_

 _"—I'm keeping you from living your life and all that feel good shit," Dougie said. "Instead of taking care of me, you should be sleeping with some guy that you feel ashamed about the next day." He lifted a finger. "But not really, because that can be quite nice."_

 _"You should know," Riley teased. "How long have you and Harry been together."_

 _"I don't kiss and tell." Dougie made a show of placing a hand on his chest and fluttering his eyelashes. "A lady never speaks about her misdeeds." His falsetto made Riley laugh even harder. "Dude, seriously, you've gone above and beyond to help me lately. And I haven't been a good friend, a best friend, you in response. I've always been shit at that sort of thing."_

 _Riley lifted an eyebrow before lifting a hand to move her long hair from one side of her neck to the other. "Thankfully, for once I my life, I haven't had much going on with me, yeah?" Dougie studied her. He didn't quite believe that. "Though I reckon that means something's bound to happen soon."_

 _"How do you figure?"_

 _"Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. And knowing my luck, something's bound to bite me in the ass." She shrugged. "At this point I can basically set my watch to it." She pushed her ice cream around and her eyes lit up when she saw what Dougie had stuck in the bottom of her bowl. "Cherries! Ace!"_

 _"Can't have some ice cream without popping a good cherry," Dougie agreed with a smug lift of his chin._

 _Riley rolled her eyes. "And to think this is the only way I could get you to kiss me," she said._

 _"Moi?"_

 _"You." Riley shoved him on the arm. "I don't think any bloke actually believes you can tell whether or not you're a good kisser just because you can tie a cherry stem with your tongue." She lifted her gaze to the ceiling and bobbed her head back and forth before smirking. "Though I've never had any complaints." Riley quickly ate a cherry, spitting the pit aside, before sticking a stem in her mouth._

 _"I sure didn't."_

 _"Whatever, dude. You're lucky I thought of kissing you, anyway."_

 _"You're right." Dougie nodded earnestly. Very lucky. Before then he'd never had the guts to even stand next to a girl he'd been attracted to without turning into a bumbling mess; sweating, mumbling, and stuttering.  
_

 _With a smile Riley stuck out her tongue where a knotted cherry stem stuck to the tip. "Ace. I can still do it," she said, triumphantly plucking it from her tongue. She slipped the stem on the far side of her bowl. "But to what you said earlier." She leaned forward and rested her forehead against his, making him smile. "I told you before, I'd always be there for you mate. It's not a matter of keeping score. If you ever need help I'm there."_

 _"I know, but…" Dougie took a deep breath. This was what he had wanted to say. The manifestation of his guilt. He was being selfish and needed to do things for himself sometimes. Not even the McFly boys held his hand through everything anymore. Well, when he wasn't crawling into Harry's bed during a particularly bad thunderstorm, anyway. "I can handle things myself." Did his voice really sound that strong? That truthful? She must've been buying it, Dougie was starting to believe himself. "Well, I wanted to ask you something."_

 _The answer he got would depend on what he would say next._

 _"Anything, Dougs," Riley replied._

 _Dougie took a deep breath and asked the one question he'd never thought to ask before. The thing they'd only talked about once and she never brought up again. "Years ago, when you thought of committing suicide," Dougie said slowly. "What made you get to that point?"_

 _Riley was silent for a long moment, her eyes boring into his. Leaning back, she twisted her mouth to the side and ran a hand through her hair before responding with, "What do you think?"_

Dougie's smile faded. He could handle it himself, he'd told her that.

He reached forward and grabbed the bottle of wine and uncorked the top. Pressing his lips to the rim of the bottle, he took a long swig, ignoring the way it burned his throat, then lowered it back down, resting his arm on his thigh to juggle the weight of the bottle.

Then he flopped back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling, a tight grasp on the bottle.

It wasn't the only thing weighing him down.

* * *

 **A/N:** I didn't originally intend to have two Riley centered parts back to back, but the second half of this chapter was deleted from the last one, moved to this one and changed to Dougie's POV. But either way it served its purpose to introduce something with Riley that my sister and I've talked about before for her character but have never shown. Let me know what you think?

 **~Riley**


	15. Chapter 15

Jake let out a long breath, repeatedly running his hands up and down the tie that just wouldn't lie flat. How many times did he have to run an iron over it before it decided to stay down. Or burst into flames. Or leap up and strangle him? Whichever came first to put him out of his misery. And knowing his luck, it would be one of the three. Even picking up the iron Jake wrapped a dishtowel around the handle lest he get shocked…or burnt.

Sighing again, Jake ran the hot plate of the iron over his tie. It was good to get the nervous energy out, he reminded himself. The more nervous he was, the worse things were going to go. And the night needed to go perfectly. A smile came to Jake's face as he thought of the plan for that night. Dinner, a movie, a walk through the park. Everything that romance movies were made of. But of course it wasn't just a regular dinner—it was at the nicest restaurant in the city, it wasn't just a movie, they were going to one of the fanciest theaters they city had—certainly worth the money. And the walk in the park wasn't just going to be the walk in the park; how many people were able to secure their own carriage ride complete with champagne and strawberries?

As soon as the good thoughts entered his head, the negative ones came in. What if the restaurant had to be evacuated for a bomb threat or he pushed his chair back too fast it knocked over the waiters and created a domino effect and…it wouldn't be the first time. The movie theater could be evacuated with the sprinklers going off. The horse-drawn carriage could run off and fall apart as they were going along or it could…Jake frowned, already the smell of the horse was permeating his nose and he was nowhere near the park.

 _You just have to be prepared like you always are,_ Jake reminded himself. _Even though you gave your luck to Katy._

"Uh, you know you gave your luck to me, right?"

Speak of the devil. Jake turned from the ironing table to see Katy standing in the doorway of his room, arms crossed over her chest. It always surprised him when he saw her. His little cousin was one of his best friend and since their Aunt Martha died she'd been living with him. Now that she was old enough to be going to NYU she had the option of living in the dorms and did so, but sometimes she continued to live with him in his apartment. She'd demanded to know why Ashley hadn't moved in once they became serious but Jake wasn't going to kick Katy out like that. After that night though…

"Yeah, my good luck, it seems to me that all of my bad luck still stuck with me," Jake joked in reply.

Katy walked over to his bed and bounced onto the end. She leaned back, crossing her legs at the knee, looking him over. "No matter what happens, you know Ashley's not going anywhere. She's way out of your league and likes you anyway. I think that's a good sign." She giggled when Jake picked up his tie and whipped it at her. Catching it in her hands, Katy looked over the pattern. "You're not wearing this one, are you?"

"I forgot, I'm speaking to a fashionista," Jake said sarcastically. He watched as Katy got up and went to his closet. "What happened to the girl that preferred to scrape her knees than what she wore?"

"And who had a Megaman stuck to the glued to the side of her face day after day?" Katy poked her head out of the closet and smiled at her cousin. "She grew up, Jake."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"And who says I don't scrape up my knees in field hockey? Just because I'm not playing football anymore…" She handed him a skinny black tie with silver swirls on the front. Jake lifted his eyebrows in hesitation and Katy sighed, moving to tie it herself. "And you know when it comes to things like this, I'm the best person you can talk to."

"Not Ashley?"

"Not if you don't want to ruin the surprise." Katy finished tying his tie and took a step back. Then she lifted her hands in the shape of a square to frame him in them. Closing an eye, she looked him up and down. "Perfect."

"Honestly?" Jake looked at his reflection in the mirror. Everything seemed to be okay, but Ashley worked for a major PR firm where even the more minor people working there were dressed to the nines. "You're not lying?"

"Why would I lie to you? This is your big day." Katy placed her hands on her hips. "So you promise to call me first when everything is said and done, right?" Jake nodded. "Good, but call my cell because I won't be here."

"Oh? You're going to be at the dorms."

"No, I'm going to hang out with Patrick and Noah at the band house." Jake narrowed his eyes and glared at Katy in the mirror, making her roll her eyes. "I already told you I _don't_ like Danny anymore. That was a stupid crush."

"You talked about how he pointed and winked at you for weeks."

"Again, it was a stupid crush."

"Uh-huh." Jake folded his arms, continued to look at her in the mirror. "And you're just friends with Patrick and Noah." He frowned as Katy smirked and said, "That's none of your business," in response. Of course it was his business, he was her last living relative. The rest of their family had passed away ages ago, courtesy of his bad luck if he were being honest with himself. Strange accidents, unexplained things…how long had he had his bad luck now? Long enough that he didn't remember a life without it. It's what his survival kit was for, the bag he carried with him at all times.

Over the years it managed to dwindle down to a small First-Aid kit. As of late he hadn't needed to use it as much, he just rolled with the punches. The hardest thing to roll with was that his little cousin wasn't so little anymore. Sure, there were the physical things; she had breasts, hips, wore makeup, and loves to dress up when she had the chance. But she also wasn't following him around as much as she used to, had her own friends, had her own life. And…he wondered if she'd feel left out of his life once things with him and Ashley continued to move forward.

He'd never let that happen, of course, but her feelings were important, too. Especially when it was that soon, she'd find someone she'd want a similar relationship with.

"Yeah, yeah." Jake waved her off. "You'll tell me."

"Right, I'd need to know why all guys are jerks when it comes down to it."

"Fear. Pure, unadulterated fear. Whether it be of rejection, commitment, the future, whatever it is, there's something they're insecure or scared of and only the right person can let them realize that everything's going to be okay."

Katy nodded. "Y'know, it's funny, that's what Aunt Martha said about girls in relationships," she mused. "That we're all just scared."

"That's life, Katy. We're scared of the unknown and try to avoid it as much as possible." Jake took in a deep breath to steady his nerves. Finally, a calm washed over him. He was ready for this. It was going to happen. "Give me some skin." He reached out his hand towards Katy and she smiled, doing their classic handshake before wrapping her arms around her cousin's chest. "I love you, Katy."

"I love you, too, Jake," Katy said. "Have a good time tonight."

"Thanks. You too." He pointed a finger in her face. "But not too much fun."

Katy snapped her fingers. "Darn, now I'm going to have to cancel those party plans."

Jake knew she did like to have fun, but she wasn't much of a partier. Balancing her sports schedule with a college course load had her studying more than anything else. Leaning over, Jake pressed a kiss to the top of her head and gave her another hug. They bid each other goodbye and Jake left his apartment—an upgrade from the one Damon Phillips and Masquerade Records had given him when he first started working for them—and took his car to Ashley's apartment. She was ready to go as soon as he arrived—making him smile when he saw her friends Dana and Maggie handing her an umbrella and an extra coat just in case—before waving wildly to him.

He'd told them the plan long before he had finalized it himself, just so he didn't back out. How they managed to keep it all a secret was beyond him. They were the worst secret keepers on the face of the planet though were just as quick to join in on the crazy plans and misadventures they managed to get themselves into. Who else would go along with their friend to find every guy in New York who had attended a party just to kiss them and get their luck back? The same sort of people that would make it seem like a band was their second job while being crazy in interviews and driving him crazy in life was their first.

Jake sometimes wondered how Fletch was able to handle the force that was McFly when they really got going, but they'd soon grown to be some of his best friends and best clients. Over the years his repertoire had grown and while he worked hard to manage as many bands as they could, McFly was always going to be his main priority. After everything they'd all been through together when trying to crack the US…

"Jake, is everything okay?" Ashley's husky voice caught his attention and he smiled over at his red-headed girlfriend. She looked back at him in concern. "You seem a little…I don't know, worried. Is everything with the band okay?"

That's what he loved about her. How easily she could put her entire focus on him after a long day of her own harrowing work. Peggy Braden had calmed down over the years but Ashley still was her right-hand man and continued to take every project that was sent her way. How many dates had they had to cancel while she worked? More than enough that Jake knew for sure their relationship had an even give and take scale. Sometimes he had to focus on his career and sometimes she had to focus on hers. It was enough that their lives managed to blend so well, but for things to work so perfectly…?

For him that was unheard of.

As it was, Jake was already expecting the other shoe to drop at some point. But they rolled up to the restaurant with no problems. Enough so that Jake gave the valet a huge tip before ushering the two inside to get their reservation, which, thankfully, the concierge still had. The moment they were seated, the waiters were nothing but attentive. Their bread basket was refilled with steaming rolls each time it got low, their Champaign continued to be refilled, and the jazz band played quietly in the corner, adding atmosphere for what was starting out to be a perfect night.

While everything was going swimmingly, Jake was sweating. Nearly every time he became calm, a shot of adrenaline would rush through him. His palms would sweat—he nearly took out a waiter with a wayward fork, his breathing would become labored—almost choked to death on his champagne, knees were bouncing up and down—the table rocked back and forth. He was sure he was stuttering, too. But all the while Ashley continued to smile at him almost as if she excepted him to be like that. And maybe she did. She became so used to his own quirks and idiosyncrasies, just like he did her—he never understood why anyone would need to look at their horoscope every day, or needed to be the first one to have new makeup color that had been released—but it just made him love everything about her.

He'd never truly believed opposites attract but he understood how true it could be. He was an optimist who lived in reality as much as he could. Not that Ashley lived in a dream world but she was a _dreamer_ always planning out what her next move would be and what she'd do once she got to a certain point in her life, dreaming for this and that and creating goals to reach those dreams. Together, they managed to keep each other in check.

So every time Ashley said, "Relax, everything's okay," he believed her.

"So what do we have next?" Ashley asked, taking Jake's hand as they strolled out of the restaurant. She leaned closer to him and snuggled into his side as the drop in temperature wove its way beneath her clothes.

"I was thinking about a movie at the Rialto," Jake said. He put his arm around her shoulders, nudging her out of the way of a large puddle on the sidewalk. Who knew how deep it actually was. Or maybe a car would drive by and soak them within seconds. "With whatever movie you want to see."

"Hmm." Ashley pressed her lips together. "I'm already kind of full from dinner."

"Were the five courses too much?" Jake felt his palms starting to sweat again.

"No, no!" She gave him a peck on the cheek. "It was all very delicious. I especially liked the sorbet. But eating more popcorn and candy at the movies? I don't think my stomach could handle it." She gestured towards the street. "Let's just keep walking around and see what we find."

Jake smiled and nodded. It was a great plan, it'd take time away from when they had the carriage scheduled and…it was a gorgeous night. Much more so than any other night in New York he'd seen the last couple of days. All up until that night there was nothing but gray clouds and rainfall. It added to the atmosphere. The light air of humidity hung in the air, creating a warm wind that blew over them, the damp streets reflected the lights of the buildings around them, adding an ethereal sparkling to the streets.

That was New York in a nutshell, one of the most romantic cities to be in with someone you loved. Finally, they made it to the carriage that was waiting for them and Ashley squealed, running over to it. "This is for us?" She ran her hand along the side of the horse, gently petting it. "Oh Jake, you didn't have to, it's too much money."

"I wanted to," Jake replied. Still, he eyed the horse suspiciously, silently warning it not to try anything stupid. "I wanted tonight to be special."

"But with the dinner _and_ this?" Ashley shook her head. "What's the occasion?"

"No reason." He walked forward and pressed a kiss to her lips then to her forehead. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing his forehead against hers, keeping his blue eyes locked onto her green ones. "I love you. Does there need to be any other reason than that?"

Ashley leaned back and eyed him carefully, suspiciously. "What'd you break? Did you hurt something? Do you need to pay someone off?" She placed her hands on her hips. "You shrank my Louis Vuitton sweater, didn't you?"

Jake lifted his eyebrows. "Do you honestly think it'd be safe with me?" He joked. He hadn't touched her sweater and was very careful not to have her clothes near any of his when he did his laundry. He knew the cashiers at his local clothing store by name with how often he bought clothes from there, due to how often they shrank, tore, or just plain went missing in the wash. He made the mistake with a pair of designer socks _once._ He'd never do that again.

"Must've been Maggie or Dana then," Ashley mused. Though she continued to eye Jake playfully. Turning on her heel she motioned towards the horse. "Shall we go then?"

"Lets."

Jake started towards her. "Ow!" He tripped over a lose shoelace—the same one he had been stopping to tie all night—and fell to the ground. He threw out his hands to catch himself, slamming painfully to his knees. "Woops!" His glasses flew off his face and skidded across the ground from his impact. Squinting, Jake patted around for the frames that clattered along the ground. "Sorry, I'll just be a minute."

Ashley didn't answer.

Jake continued to reach around him, carefully scrawling forward before his hands landed on the ends of his frames. He picked them up and hastily cleaned the lenses with the bottom of his dress shirt before looking up to find Ashley kneeling in front of him, holding onto a small, velvet box that'd bounced out of his hand. She found the ring.

Jake's heart sank as he lifted his gaze to look at her. And yet Ashley looked back at him with a smile. A small one. Much smaller than he had anticipated for someone to be proposed to. It took a minute for him to realize what she wasn't saying out loud.

"You know?" He asked. Ashley nodded. "How long?"

"About a month," she said quietly and sucked in a deep breath. He could hear it wobbling, trying to keep her composure. "The, uh, the jewelers…" she wiped at her eyes. "They called to know when you were going to pick it up. I'm…I'm sure you gave them your number but, they called my apartment. I guess I've shopped there too much."

The two laughed to themselves. Nearly every time Ashley treated herself it was through some piece of jewelry. If anything, it was his own fault he used the same place that Ashley bought jewelry from to get an engagement ring. But he knew she liked it…

With shaking hands, Jake took the box from Ashley's hands, realizing they were shaking as well, and opened it. He opened the box upside down and the ring slipped out, bouncing along the ground. "Ah!" He grabbed it before it could get too far and held it out to his girlfriend. "So…what do you say?" He asked. "Will you marry me?"

"Of course!"

The tears finally came down Ashley's cheeks, making it hard for her to get the two words out. But she said them. She'd marry him. Ashley held onto Jake's hand, holding him steady to help him slide the ring onto her finger. Once it was nestled into place, Jake couldn't help but stare at it. It was a few years coming and it finally happened. They were engaged.

Ashley leaned over and gave Jake a long kiss, making him grin.

His luck had finally turned around.

* * *

 **A/N:** Aww, they're engaged now. And Jake didn't have to worry about his bad luck…not so much, anyway. I'm sure anyone would be able to figure out their S.O. acting funny like that. And this now starts some of the romance plots of the story. Pretty fitting if you ask me.

 **~Riley**


	16. Chapter 16

"I swear, he's trying to kill us," Charlie murmured, lowering himself to the floor so that he could start a round of pushups.

Beside him, James only managed a grunt before the group started to lower and rise themselves in a set of pushups while Harry stood in the center of the circle created around him, counting out their reps. Though his counting was similar to a drill sergeant's barking. It didn't help that Tom, Danny, and Dougie were clearly trying to get him to break his façade by making him laugh. It seemed to be doing the opposite; every time Harry's lips twitched and eyes squinted as if he were seconds from breaking, he'd bark out another order and the rest of them were the victims.

"What was your first clue?" Patrick muttered from Charlie's other side. He blew his fallen fringe out of his face, cheeks turning red from the effort to speak and do the workout at the same time. "Normally, I like to work out, but I think he's really starting to get into the idea that he thinks there's some truth to working out and—" he cut himself off when Harry walked closer to them and flashed a charming smile, moving faster to do his pushups.

Charlie chuckled to himself. If there was anyone that got to the point of complaining about working out, Patrick was the last one he expected. He, and all of his siblings, were athletic to the point that there weren't many sports and activities they hadn't found to excel in. They prided on working out to stay healthy—or as he suspected, healthy enough so they could eat whatever they wanted. Charlie was already feeling his arms start to turn into jelly and they hadn't even started lifting weights yet.

He should've known things were about to get bad when Harry had enthusiastically woken him up that morning by shaking his shoulder and shoving a protein shake in his face. Even Matt, who seemed to love working out—or it was at least his latest addiction—couldn't stand to be woken up so early. He threatened to punt Harry in the face before rolling onto his side to pull his blankets back up his shoulders before Harry grabbed his legs and dragged him out of bed.

"Well, you get my point," Patrick finished once Harry moved away again.

Charlie smiled and nodded. He followed the others as they moved to stretch out their legs before they moved onto lifting weights, cardio already done for the day. Beside him, James let out a long breath, nearly folding in on himself as he tried to catch his breath.

Laughing, Charlie placed his hand on James's shoulder. "You alright, mate?"

"Nah, man, James is the first victim," Matt laughed from James's other side. A large grin split his face. "I think the first things of his I'll take is Star Wars collection."

"You…leave my…Star Wars…alone," James gasped. He reached down and placed his hands on his stomach as it bulged over the top of his shorts. "If I knew I had to suffer through this to perform music, I would've stuck with being a songwriter."

"And the next thing you'll tell me is that you actually _like_ shopping," Charlie said, voice dripping with sarcasm. None of them liked shopping, almost as much as they hated to do laundry. He seemed to remember something about James continuously buying new clothes online and throwing away old ones rather than cleaning...

"Not all of us have the ability to buy whatever the fuck we want, mate." Matt paused. "Though living rent free in that posh castle was pretty fucking sweet."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "I already told you it wasn't a castle," Charlie defended himself. He made a show of retying his shoes. "It was just a very big house—"

"—Owned by your very rich ancestors, blah, blah, blah, we get it," James teased before he and Matt started laughing.

Charlie knew they were making fun of him the way they used to and didn't feel so offended by it. But just like he used to, it made him feel uncomfortable. Yes, his family was very wealthy, going so far back to Sir William Sterndale Bennett; the famous English pianist, conductor, and composer as well as his great grandfather Robin Sterndale Bennett, the director of music at his former school, Uppingham. But that didn't mean it was anything he liked to speak about.

How many people had said he'd only gotten into the music industry because of his family and wealth? Probably the same amount of people that said he was only in it because of his looks as well. Then there were those that always said the same things over and over; they had no talent as a band, probably didn't write their own songs, shouldn't be taken seriously…it was all hard to ignore when you were sixteen years old and in the public eye.

It was nearly ten years later and even now all of the comments like that made his skin crawl and blood pressure rise more than he'd like to admit. It was hard being a young teen in the public eye and trying not to let everything people say get to you. In his twenties he should've bene used to it, but it was something that followed him no matter where he went. Someone _always_ had something to say.

When it go to be too much, the constant criticism of his music, he tried to write his own and it came out…different. It wasn't anything that Busted typically did and that was the best part. It wasn't too 'teeny-bopper' and it sounded much more like the bands he loved to listen to…sounded like the music that the Jacksons played and he greatly enjoyed. Getting their opinion on what he'd created on his own had been a big push in trying to explain it to James and Matt.

Matt thought it was pretty cool…but then again, Matt thought _everything_ was cool. There certainly was truth that he was the rebellious, party-boy of them. _Now he rebels in his own way,_ Charlie thought with a wry smile. James, on the other hand, had taken a little offense with Charlie's music.

'Why change what's working?' James had asked.

 _In other words, why change the music that you write,_ Charlie had through then, deciding to keep his mouth shut and his new music to himself. He'd get it out there somehow…and it had been one of the catalysts of a deteriorating relationship with his bandmates and friends in McFly and the DarkElements. If they'd been able to work things out, then Busted probably shouldn't have taken too long.

And yet, time moved faster than any of them would have liked to admit. The painful pull of the muscles in his arms would attest to that.

"Besides, he's into the Home Shopping Network now," James said. He jerked his thumb over to Matt. "Just yesterday he came running to me about this dodgy contraption to cook food."

"Oh, that uh," Charlie snapped his fingers. "That dump cake thing? Mate, that _is_ pretty dodgy."

"All you do is put everything in one container and cook it and it makes a cake," Matt defended himself. "I'm not thinking about myself, I'm thinking about how many desserts we can have. And how much easier it would be to eat them."

"Better use it for Tom's birthday then." Charlie lowered his voice, nodding his head across the large circle. "Considering he wants everything Christmas for his birthday."

"I already got all of the decorations, mate, why would he need the cake, too?"

James lifted a finger. "Does this mean that we get to do a Secret Santa and give each other gifts, too?" He slowly started to grin. "There's this drone I've had my eye on and—"

"You just bought a $5000 keyboard, I don't think you need anything else, mate," Charlie swiftly cut him off. "A girlfriend maybe." Matt burst out into loud laughter and Charlie joined in as the two high-fived. Thankfully, Harry had decided to switch to working on cardio and they weren't stuck suffering through another round of pushups and star jumps.

As it was, Charlie wasn't sure he'd be able to play the guitar at all that day. His arms hung heavily at his sides as he stood up to stretch. Thankfully, he received a reprieve when Harry, who stopped to check the time on his phone, suddenly let out a cry, holding it to his ear.

All eyes turned his way as he frantically waved a hand in the air.

"Mates, listen to this!" He called.

"If it'd Dougie leaving another farting voicemail, I don't want to hear it," Rhuben commented, folding her arms. "I got tricked with that at three AM once."

"I think that'd the loudest I've ever heard you yell," Dougie added, putting his arm around her shoulders. "All the way over from the other side of the world. I didn't think it was possible." She smiled and looped her arm around his waist then quickly removed it, feeling the sweat that was now dripping off him. "Ha! Gotcha!" He moved out of the way, ducking behind Riley as Rhuben moved to punch him.

"You're not going to have your bodyguard all the time, Dougs," Rhuben teased. "I'm going to get you."

"Have at it, sis." Riley took a large step away from him, holding out her arm like Vannah White.

"You know, I think I'm going to quite enjoy all the silence once Dougie is gone," Danny commented to Tom folding his arms.

Tom grinned back. "Yeah, we might actually get some work done."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Harry demanded, continuing to wave his hand as he listened to the message on his phone. Finally, he hung up on the call and waved his arms, shushing everyone. "Mates, I have some news."

"That Izzy chick finally realized you're completely crazy?" Sydney teased. He grinned big his dimples appeared in his cheeks. "It's about time, I reckon there's only so long anyone can last around your extreme competitiveness."

"It's not that bad."

"Mate, you even made watching a movie a competition. No one cares who composed scores in movies." Sydney bobbed his head back and forth. "Even though I knew."

"That's probably the least humble you've ever sounded about a brag, mate, you may want to work on that." Harry turned away from Sydney and said with a grin, "I just got the message from Jake, he proposed to Ashley and she said 'yes'."

Dougie popped out from his crouching position to ask, "And he thought that was a _good_ idea?" before he was drowned out by cries of surprise and happiness form the rest of the band members.

McFly and the DarkElements had seen Jake's relationship with Ashley unfold up close and personal through their time trying to break New York years ago. Busted, on the other hand, had only gotten to know them in a smaller capacity afterwards, when Jake had agreed to Fletch's offer to continue managing bands with him. They met Jake when their band was on their way out, with Charlie meeting up with who would become his Fighstar band members to work on muic more often than music for Busted. And yet Jake had something about him that made it easy to see the passion he had in music, even if it took so long for Damon Phillips to notice.

So Jake expanded his repertoire to add bands that Fletch worked with as well, or those in genres he'd feel Jake could further press forward, some of which now finding fame in the indie genre. There were enough bands the two managed together and apart to keep things interesting. But what they couldn't ignore was how much more lively McFly and Busted made things for them. Or in Fletch's case, torturous, just like Jake would say about the DarkElements. At one point he'd even been close to adopting them before Ronan had gotten the chance, and they tended to torture him as much as they got the chance.

To know that family dynamic was going to be increased even further was certainly something to be excited about. Harry called Jake back and all at once they started to shot out their encouragement, making jokes about whether or not Ashley was sure she wanted to be saddled with bad luck for the rest of her life, and some not-so-serious comments about his life being over—of which got differing levels of glares in response.

Charlie brought his hands up to rest on his head. "Can't believe Jake's getting married," he said. "Seems like just yesterday I was sitting with the bloke at the pub for the first time."

"Seems like just yesterday Jakey was getting hit over the head with a horseshow," Danny added, elbowing Tom in the side, making him smile.

"I told you to take it down from the door or someone would get hurt." Tom pointed with his chin towards Dougie. "But I thought it was going to be him to get it first, mate. May as well take our luck where we've got it." He smiled wider when Dougie glared at him, giving the finger in response.

"Actually, I always thought that Charlie would've been the first of us to get married," Noah said quietly, sitting on a nearby leg press.

Charlie's eyebrows rose. "Really? Why?"

A wry smile came to Noah's face. "I expected at some point your family would've wanted to throw a huge party lie the royal wedding." He reached up a hand to push his hair out of his face. "I reckon it'd be the best party to go to." He reached out a hand and Patrick immediately high-fived it as the two grinned.

"Nah, I'd feel sorry for whomever would get stuck with that mess," Rhuben commented, running a hand through her hair. "All of that fanfare and publicity…"

"It's not much more than what we get on a daily basis," Charlie replied, unable to keep the bite back from his tone. "But I seem to remember that you hate having any attention on you anyway, So why bother wasting the resources?"

Rhuben's eyes narrowed a little. "Guess I dodged a bullet then," she said coolly.

"Guess you did."

"At the risk of this turning into a blood bath I'd hate to miss," Riley said sarcastically. She pointed over her shoulders with her thumbs. "Can we speed this up? I've got to go into town, yeah? Love must be in the bloody air because Brody needs me to help him with some wedding stuff."

Sydney leapt at the chance. "Can I tag along? I was going to hang out with Anna."

"Absolutely, bro. If you want we can suffer through Harry's torment later."

Harry pointed at her. "You're going to pay for that one." Riley and Sydney both stuck out their tongues. Harry clapped his hands together. "Okay guys, let's get back to work. We have a lot to do if we're going to be in shape by the time our tours start." He brought his thumb up to his to mouth and gently chewed on the nail, eyes shifting back and forth. "Considering the suddenly warm climate in here, why don't we just do everything else by band and swap around when they're done."

"Darn." Dougie pouted, folding his arms. "I wanted to see a fight."

"Keep it up and you just might get it, mate," Patrick warned him.

Charlie turned on his heel and went to the free weights, grabbing a pair of gloves that Matt offered him and strapped them on. James sidled up to their side, an ever present grin on his face and said, "Mate, if you just—"

"James," Charlie interrupted swiftly. "Whatever it is, shut up."

He was only sixteen years old when Busted started. A point in his life when he, admittedly, cared too much about what people thought of him. Where people around him thought he was stuck up because his family was so posh, and others because he worked as a model when he wasn't working on his music. Then there were those that felt he didn't have much to say in his own life and career and that he didn't know what he liked.

People telling him left and write how his music should sound, how he should be marketed, how he thought he didn't play his own instruments, and write his own songs, and should they all actually be taken seriously? The first time he, James, and Matt went to New York it was in the forefront of his mind. His heart sinking in dismay to hear they'd be in teen magazines and on kid's shows rather than promoting themselves with the likes of Green Day on Jay Leno. America was a whole other beast to tame and it ended up being the same problems they had in the UK.

The last thing he needed was a reminder of his old insecurities. It was a new life and he was going to move on, not caring so much about what people thought. Charlie finished strapping the gloves around his hands and directed for Matt to put on a good amount of weight so he could squat it.

Twisting his mouth to the side, Charlie repeated it to himself. He wasn't going to worry so much about what other people thought of him. It wasn't going to affect him as much. Only his thoughts mattered. Charlie's eyes shifted as he watched Riley, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney grab Rhuben around the legs and hefted her up and down to help her with a set of pull-ups as they all laughed hysterically

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

"Please don't tell me you brought me all the way over here just to have me sit in your office, mate," Julius Jackson-McGuire said before stifling a yawn. He sat up, dropping his hands between his legs, watching as Ronan sat at his desk, resting his cheek in his palm, staring at the phone line as it continued to light up. "You know for that to stop you have to answer it."

"I know," Ronan mumbled. "But I don't want to."

"You do know that if it were the police they'd just come to your office, not warn you first, right?" Julius shook his hair from his face. "I learned that a long time ago when having to deal with my brothers and sisters."

"It doesn't have to do with them."

"That's a shock"

Ronan smiled at Julius' joke but it didn't reach his eyes. Julius shook his head and leaned back saying, "Dad, you know you have to tell them." Ronan still didn't look at him. "If things are going to get that much worse—"

"—We don't know that it will," Ronan interrupted.

Julius ran his hands over his face and through his hair before setting his jaw. "There's nothing to say that it won't either. You're not taking the amount of medication that your doctor is suggesting to at least stay on your feet. I'm not a doctor, mate, but even I know what happens if you don't take your medication." He paused, waiting for Ronan to say anything further and continued with, "It's cancer! This isn't a common cold!"

"I know what it is," Ronan interrupted, almost snapping. "And I already told you this is something to handle delicately."

"Sure, if you think keeping it quiet until you're dead is fucking good idea!" Julius snapped back. He scrubbed his face with his fingertips. "Jake just got engaged, the next thing we need to worry about is planning a funeral? And you know they're all going to be mad that you didn't tell them."

"You _know_ why I didn't tell them," Ronan insisted, green eyes flashing. His hands clenched into fists, shaking slightly. He hoped Julius couldn't see it. Didn't see how much he was holding back. "I'm going to. I just can't do it yet. Because then they'll do that thing where they have to constantly make sure I'm okay and constantly hover and constantly worry that something's going to happen and make themselves sick—"

"—With worry, mate," Julius said. "When they're not angry. And they'll be bloody angry."

"That's the risk I'm willing to take," Ronan said. "And I'm sure they'll understand when they know why I made my decision." He lowered his voice, almost as if he were afraid his words would leak out of his apartment and into the hall to spread wings and take flight to get out into the ether. So far he'd managed to avoid more of the appearances that would have him in the public eye. It'd only be so long until rumors started to pop up. "I'm glad you're here to help them out on tour, but I'm going to need your help, too."

Julius looked a little offended, lifting an eyebrow. "You've done the best thing you could ever do to help us, Ronan. I don't think it's saying much to help you, too." He thought for a moment. "You know I'm going to tell Brittany, right?"

"Right, of course, I'd expect you too," Ronan said.

"I just hope you know what you're potentially giving up, not just my brothers and sisters, but your parents and brothers, and Brittany, and Robin-Renee, and—"

"Julius, I get it."

Julius nodded. He could see it in Ronan's eyes. This was the man that dropped everything in his life to adopt himself and his brothers and sisters when they needed a steady home and a father figure that actually loved them. If he were being honest, Julius and Ronan weren't so close at first; the young man was old enough to have a life of his own in Australia that Ronan hadn't been a part of when he was working hard to save his siblings from the abuse Ronan managed to fix in what seemed to be a snap.

It took a while for them to have an actual father-son relationship compared to the working one they'd grown used to as Julius worked his sibling's merch table and social media accounts. And Julius loved having Ronan as his father as much as his brothers and sisters did. But had he known one day he would potentially lose the third parental figure in his life, he would've started laughing.

No one's luck was _that_ bad.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, now Julius is there as well. At least he knows about Ronan's cancer prognosis for a bit of support. Now if only the rest of them knew. And, of course, some romance drama. As the story goes on there will be plenty of moments that are just the bands hanging out by themselves, family moments, and other friendship moments that all that I've shown so far. But as you guys know, balancing a lot of characters and relationship dynamics can be difficult, I'm forever grateful you guys are so patient with me as I work to show them all.

 **~Riley**


	17. Chapter 17

Noah shifted his head to the side, a strange move to anyone that didn't know him. Making him look very much like a duck. But seconds later he shook it back in the opposite direction, flicking his fringe from his eyes. It was more of a tic that he hadn't realized developed if he were honest. With short hair he continued to make the movement as if there were phantom hair tickling his skin.

Patrick had the same problem when it came to his glasses. He wore them to read, having opted to use contracts more often to see, often running his finger up and down the bridge of his nose when he wasn't wearing them, making it seem he had a perpetual itch. And yet, Noah's tic came out further when he was around certain people. People that made him feel uncomfortable. Contrary to popular belief and what his quiet nature would have anyone believe, Noah was actually very confident in himself, his life, and the decisions he made.

Even if one of those decisions was to continuously meet up with his ex-foster father behind his siblings' back. It wasn't that he felt they wouldn't understand why he'd decided to do it, he knew they would. It was that he felt he was the best one to speak frankly and candidly without emotions getting in the way. It was one of the things he prided himself on, being so quiet gave him the chance to improve on the perception of people he always had.

And his perception of the man in front of him was that he was desperate to make things right.

Robert leaned back in the seat of his side of the booth. He steepled his fingers and rested his hands on the table in front of him, staring at the young man he had tortured, hurt more than he'd ever know. "I've slipped up a little lately," Robert admitted. "But not as bad as it's been before."

Noah lifted an eyebrow. "What's bad?" He wanted to ask what he considered 'slipping up' but knew it was a different definition to different people. The moment the words came out of Robert's mouth, he felt a tingling shoot down his spine. The same way it always had when he felt he was in danger of Robert's anger.

 _Not that he's been mad about anything as of late,_ Noah reminded himself. It was eerie how zen-like Robert was when he was having a good day.

"A couple of beers," Robert admitted. Nervously, he lifted his hand and scratched at his neck with his index finger, leaving small red lines against his paler skin as he did so. Noah flinched and looked away, wondering if it would stay a regular scratch lest he started to gouge at his own skin the same way he'd done to the children he was to protect. "Couple of bottles. The temptation got to me." He smiled wanly. "It always is hard to go to a sporting event or watch one on TV and not have some sort of alcoholic drink with it." He tapped his fingertips against the table top. "It's hard when you're around people that don't understand."

"I know that feeling well," Noah said with a half-smile.

How many times had he needed to tell people that his whispery voice wasn't funny? That being teased and called a 'Mouse', of which his siblings turned into an endearing nickname, wasn't funny. That being sidelined because he didn't and couldn't speak as much as others when in times of high stress was nothing to joke about.

How his first instinct when going to a new place was to look for an exit, how he sized up anyone new that came into his life to determine within a few seconds whether he was safe, how he could sense danger or unease within people and situations within a moment's notice. It was all things he had to learn and things that were harder to move on from than anything else.

"Explaining it is the hardest part," Noah said. The same words felt hollow every time he had to say them. _'_ I was abused'. 'This looks better than it actually was.' 'My dad hit me. No...he wasn't actually my dad, he was my foster father'. 'He wasn't always bad, there were times he was nice.' 'Yes, I'm being serious. Some things he taught us I still do.' 'Yeah, I had to call him 'sir'.' "That's when I get too much sympathy and I hate that."

"Try, having too little sympathy," Robert said. Suddenly, he brought up his arm and rested it against the top of the booth seat. Noah smiled to himself, finding that he hadn't flinched or reacted in any adverse way to Robert's movement. It had taken many years and many therapy appointments to get that far. "My friends, they keep going, 'Rob you need to lighten up', 'it's just one drink', 'it won't kill you.'" He tilted his head back, flicking up the brim of his hat. "Though I'm pretty sure at this point if I ever did more than one, it would kill me. The withdrawals before coming to meet you nearly did."

"What about your classes and everything?"

"I still go. Anger management isn't as easy as everyone thinks it is. Not to mention breaking the cycle of alcoholism." He cleared his throat, sitting up straight. "That's why, I believe, adoption is better for me. I can't imagine the thought of passing on anything adverse."

Noah's eyebrow twitched up. What a joke. Abuse didn't have to be a disease. Yes, Robert's father abused him and Robert abused as well. But it wasn't anything that was passed on from having children naturally. It was passed on due to the sheer act of it. As much as Robert had recovered from his alcoholism over the years, he still left a lasting imprint from his raised fists.

How many times had he and his siblings confided that they were afraid to have any close friendships, relationships, or kids of their own because they were afraid of hurting someone?

Nevertheless, despite his hand curling into a fist, Noah chose not to say anything. Not like he could. He felt his vocal chords freezing. His selective mutism always came at the worst time. Seeing Robert used to do that to him, even hearing his name mentioned while in a therapy session would have him shut down. He'd grown to be around the man and see him as human before the monster that haunted his dreams. But the thought of turning him into a father once more, to give someone else the chance of the extreme amount of pain he went through.

Punches.

Kicks.

Slaps.

Shoves.

Pins.

Chokes.

Stomps.

Slams.

All the injuries that resulted in cuts, scrapes, gashes, and scars that Noah still had to explain when someone innocently asked about them. He could still remember how much he shook whenever Robert would come to address him about something. Even if he was in a good mood that day, a cold swat would roll down Noah's body and he'd wait quietly, ready to do something wrong and flinch away from the punch or slap that was coming. He still remembered the time he and his siblings decided not to cover their scars anymore, startling himself with how many of them he'd managed to accrue over the years. Some of them he was completely baffled as to whether or not they'd been from childhood accidents or from a whipping belt.

Even as he sat in front of Robert, even after years of therapy on both sides, Noah was ready and waiting for a flash of the monster that was waiting beneath the surface. Waiting for that familiar snarl to come to Robert's lips before he drew himself up to his full height, screaming at the top of his lungs to be as intimidating as possible.

The rational part of Noah knew Robert had come far enough so that it wasn't a problem. He could be around his former foster children, working alongside them at Blazing Phoenix Records as their career continued to move onward and upwards. And yet, there was a part of Noah that was still afraid.

Because the truth was, Noah wasn't quite sure how much he'd be able to forget. PTSD was a real thing and he was desperate for something good in his life to happen without the other shoe dropping.

* * *

"I don't understand how you can be going on a cross country radio tour tomorrow and you're only _now_ starting to pack," Jacqui commented. She picked up a pair of jeans from the pile that sat around her and waved it over her head. "Okay, who has the skinny jeans?"

"Danny," Tom, Harry, and Dougie all chorused as Danny reached over to grab the offending pair of pants.

"How'd you know they were his?" Gen laughed, folding a t-shirt across her lap. Once finished, she handed it over to Harry, who gratefully took it before starting on another one. She laughed when Harry snorted and said, "Who else has chicken legs?" He asked.

Jacqui and Gen burst out laughing as Danny, not disturbed by the jokes heading his way, stood up and turned around, sticking out his legs as if he were modeling them. With his paler skin and the way his calf muscles pointed out, it did resemble a chicken drumstick. The freckles that lined his shin didn't help matters much either.

"I don't have chicken legs," Danny replied. "My legs are lovely."

"Well, you have to have something that'll offset your fat ass," Dougie cracked.

Riley, who was stretched out in the armchair, legs hanging off the side, laughed when Danny then started to shake his ass around, all with a giant grin on his face. "Don't worry about your ass, Dan. I like it just fine, yeah?" She screamed and curled in on herself when Danny threw himself onto her and started to rub his but along her lap and stomach.

Rhuben laughed at her friends and said to Gen and Jacqui, "You know, you really didn't have to help this lot get their things together. You came over for some brekkie, not to get stuck doing laundry."

"Ah, well." Gen shrugged. "We had a feeling we'd probably have to help." She tipped her head towards the boys. "I just never thought they would've waited until the very last minute to do it again." She turned and flapped a t-shirt into Jacqui's face, making her friend laugh and squirm away.

"Please," Tom defended himself. "It's better than them." He pointed at Rhuben. "You lot are so organized you have your bags packed a month advance to go traveling."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Rhuben defended herself.

"Even if you're going away for one day?" Tom lifted an eyebrow to make his point. His dimple appeared in his cheek when he ducked his head to hide from the swipe that Rhuben took at his head. Then he flipped his fringe from his face, noticing Patrick and Sydney walk into the living room with Sydney hanging off Patrick's back, holding on only by his neck.

"Have any of guy guys seen Noah?" Patrick asked. He loosened Sydney's arms from around his neck, dropping him unceremoniously onto the large pile of clothes on the ground. "We went to wake him up and he's not there."

"He said he was meeting someone for breakfast," Riley relayed, grunting as she twisted to sit up straight, Danny still splayed across her lap.

"Is she fit?" Harry asked, finally bringing his attention away from the pile he was making beside him. Despite the messy clothes pile sitting in the middle of the floor, he was making his own stack of clothes that were piled neatly next to him.

Tom eyed the pile with eyes widening in surprise then looked over at Dougie, who rolled his eyes and shook his head. There were too many things about Harry that tended to draw his ire and jealousy—how easily his confidence came, how easily he could talk to other people and command situations, how he worked out like a fiend and didn't feel self-conscious of the way he looked to name a few. But what drove him the most insane was how neat he could be.

Especially as Harry wasn't that way in the beginning. Being honest, he and Harry managed to change their roles within the four in terms of falling in line and following the rules. Tom had come up with a cleaning schedule, a cleaning schedule, and making sure everything was in its place when it needed to be. He was the first one up when it came to being somewhere on time, and the last to leave as he wanted to get as much time out of their appearances as possible. Harry, on the other hand, was a rebel. He rarely followed the rules. Smoked, drank, partied as much as possible and left a mess in his wake. As Tom still poked fun at Harry for being the one to corrupt the whole band.

Then as time went on, and Tom knew part of it was recently due to Harrys' falling in a coma from his alcohol poisoning, Harry flipped the script. He was the one who woke up early to make sure he got in a workout, in that vein woke up everyone else when they had to be somewhere. He kept everything orderly, making sure everyone picked up after themselves and went so far as to drive them crazy when he vacuumed around someone in his way when he wasn't nitpicking on whatever else was clean. Tom, on the other hand, loosened up considerably. He didn't smoke or drink anymore, but was certainly more laid back about the rules they had around the house and was able to fully be himself.

Looking around the room, then leaning forward to peer at James, Matt, and Charlie as they cooked breakfast in the kitchen, Tom couldn't' believe how lucky he'd become over his life. He'd always been creative and enjoyed music and the arts as his main source of entertainment. Starting from playing guitar on stage with his father to playing Oliver Twist in a West End show to being the leader of his own band. With the friends he picked up along the way, they continued to increase his confidence and quality of life in ways he hadn't originally expected.

They all had different backgrounds and experiences that still managed to bring them all together and were still close enough friends that they were able to continuously go on tours together. And even when they weren't touring they made sure to show continuous support of each other when new music and new ventures were coming out. He'd never thought he'd know someone who'd be invited to participate on Strictly Come Dancing, let alone Dancing with the Stars, the Voice, or get acting roles in other big shows and movies.

It inspired him enough to want to try his own hand at other creative ventures. If only his insecurities would get out of his head. That he wasn't as good as he could be. If he were happier, if he had all the energy in the world-which seemed to be lacking in that moment—then things would come to him without a second of thought.

"Tom, are you okay?"

Tom flinched when a towel was thrown into his face and he gave the finger to Dougie, who laughed hysterically. "Mate, you should've seen the look on your face."

"Better than your face in general, yeah?" Patrick shot back with a lopsided smile.

Tom laughed at the joke and looked towards Gen, who had asked him the question. She lifted her gaze from the towels and washcloths she rapidly folded and set aside. "I'm fine," he said. "Just thinking about how the tour's going to go." He was sure she knew he was lying.

"I don't know why," she chided him. "Your guys tours always go well."

"Yeah, but we haven't done a lot of new music since Above the Noise and even then, this is a new venture that people may not even like." Tom flipped his hair from his face once more. He sighed heavily, leaning back against the couch to stretch his legs in front of him. "We can't guarantee people will want to see it. There are McFly fans and Busted fans, but we can't be sure all of them are McFly and Busted fans." He nodded to his phone, that sat next to him. "I was looking over my Twitter account—"

"—That's your first mistake," Jacqui pointed out. "You're basing too much of your opinion on what Twitter has to say."

"How are we supposed to listen to our fans if we don't bloody use Twitter?" Danny asked. "It's the best way to get in touch with them, innit?"

"One of the better ways, but no one said it was the best," Sydney pointed out. "There's always ways for good things to be mucked up. With social media I reckon it's easier, everyone has a voice, and everyone can hide behind a computer, yeah?"

"Tom does have a point, though," Harry said, quickly coming to his friend's defense. "It's a better way to reach fans but it's also a better way for fans to reach us. They give us their opinions on what we do. And there are lot of people that don't like the idea of McBusted."

Lifting an eyebrow, Rhuben said shortly, "So? Do you know how many people don't like the idea of us working with you lot?"

"Considering how many times we've nearly been arrested?" Dougie asked, squinting an eye shut as he thought about it. He tilted his head to the side, his shoulder length hair falling into his eyes. "I'd say probably a thousand."

"I'm sure your affliction for public nudity doesn't help much either, Dougie," Gen pointed out with a half-smile, trying and failing to hide her laughter.

"None of us are complaining about that, by the way," Jacqui reassured them, causing the room to burst out laughing once more.

Tom laughed along with them as he nodded. They were right. There was always going to be someone or something that wouldn't like what they would do with their career. Normally, Tom wouldn't care because, normally, he wouldn't see it. He avoided the rags and tabloids that spoke about him and his band mates, spreading as many rumors as they could. Sometimes getting interviews from people that used to be in his life. (He could never forget the mother of one of his former friends throwing creamer on him in the market while also giving an interview of how much of a dick Tom was). But there had never been a time in his life where—with the internet—it was almost impossible to completely ignore.

"Okay!" James rubbed his hands eagerly as he walked into the living room with Charlie and Matt behind him, both holding onto large, steaming plates of food. "Who's ready for breakfast? We've got French Toast, bacon, and eggs."

"Uh," Gen's eyes shifted back and forth. "Which is the French Toast and which is the eggs?"

"And is any of that actually edible?" Harry added.

"Looks like a steaming pile of shit, to me," Dougie quipped.

Riley smirked. "Probably the only time you can say that literally, Dougs." She then zeroed in on the plates and said, "Curious, did you make a blue or are you seriously trying to kill us all?"

"Yeah, yeah, are you done with your jokes?" Charlie asked. "Some of us don't always cook for ourselves, you know."

"Right, you just had your mums do it for you," Rhuben said. She then looked to Matt and held up her hand saying, "No offense, Mattie." Knowing at one point in his life he had less than little. Matt nodded in response, not taking any offense.

"What about us?" James frowned.

"You barely can take care of yourself, so there's that. And from what I remember, Charlie made a birthday cake for his girlfriend in a _toilet,_ " Rhuben continued, making Charlie smile and chuckle at the memory. "I don't put a lot of faith in your cooking abilities."

"Good, because they wouldn't let me do anything," Matt defended.

"We were afraid to get cigarette ash in our mix, mate," Charlie teased.

Jacqui clapped her hands together and pointed at Charlie. "Smart, man. Smart, smart, man. Though I'll bill you for any hospital bills I receive." She heard the front door open and called over her shoulder as Noah walked inside, "Save yourself! Don't come any closer."

"As usual, I have no idea what you're on about, Jacqui," Noah said. Then his eyes zeroed in on the plates of food and he said flatly, "What the fuck is that?"

"Brekkie," Sydney said.

Tom eyed the blackened food on his plate with horror. His stomach growled loudly, suddenly reminding him that he hadn't eaten much the night before. Too nervous about the upcoming radio tour, of which he spoke to Fletch extensively about on the phone. He was starving now. Thankfully, his diet wouldn't let him have much of what the Busted boys made anyway. He'd eaten some dodgy things in his life, and that wasn't going to be any he'd add to his list.

"I'm not _that_ hungry," Tom finally managed to squeak out. One look at his friends and band mates' faces and he knew he wasn't the only one who felt that way. "How about we go out for breakfast?" He pulled a credit card out of his pocket and waved it back and forth. "On Fletch?"

That got a unanimous response and Tom flipped the credit card between his fingers. "How'd you get Fletch's card, anyway?" Gen asked, moving out of the way so that she wouldn't get trampled by Dougie and Harry racing each other to the stairs.

"I pinched it from him the last time he was here," Tom said. He tried to hide the evil smile that came to his face. "It was a joke. He was going on and on about something and we were trying to see what we could put on him or take away from him without him noticing. I forgot to give it back before he left."

"How lucky for us," Gen teased. "Fraud aside." She tucked her hair from her face and said looked at him closely. "You know, you really don't have to worry about this McBusted stuff." Tom tried to feign innocence but couldn't muster up enough emotion to do so.

However, the thought of _why_? flashed through his mind and judging by the way Gen's eyes flickered with a warm light, he sure it registered over his face.

"Because you're you," Gen said with a warm smile. "And if there's anyone I know that can be a leader to all of them and make the best out of a new situation, it's you." She squeezed his hand before moving away, sending an electrical jolt down his arm and through his body.

Suddenly, he was very hungry.

* * *

 **A/N:** Aww, a nice happy(-ish) chapter ending for all of the friends hanging out. But there's plenty more where that comes from with their radio tour starting up.

 **Cheers,**

 **~Riley**


	18. Chapter 18

"Dan…Dan….Dan….Danny!"

Danny groaned and rolled onto his side. His eyelids, already closed, slammed tighter together. Too much sunlight. Too much _damn_ sunlight! He didn't have a hangover, he'd grown out of drinking so much to have it be an issue ages ago—not that a long night out couldn't get him there if he weren't careful. (And not that he gave up drinking all together, just tried to keep it hidden around Harry at times). But everyone had had a good time their last night before starting their radio tour.

Almost everyone, if he thought about it closely. He, Tom, Dougie, James, Charlie, Patrick, Noah, and Rhuben partook in some of the drinking. Harry obviously did not, same with Matt. Jacqui took a few shots, Gen flat out refused, and Riley, despite having had a beer in her hands, he didn't remember drinking at all. It wasn't such a strange though, really, anyone could do what they wanted. Something about it nagged him, however.

Even more so than the slight headache he had. Okay, maybe it was a slight hangover. It was easy to fall into drinking when his father had contacted him again. It wasn't that he didn't want to see his father, it was that he expected things to consistently turn out the same way. He'd go to meet up with him, his father wouldn't show, he'd try to get into contact with him and have nothing but radio silence for days, months, even years on end before he was contacted once more.

 _Of course he'd bloody want to talk when we're about to go on tour,_ Danny through bitterly. He reached out blinding patting around, to bring the blankets over his shoulder. _The only time he ever wants to speak is when we're super successful._ Finding the blankets, Danny pulled hard, draping the warmth over him before reaching out his other hand to find his phone.

It was on the bedside table, wasn't it? Blindly, Danny continued to pat around before making a large sweep of his arm. He felt his wrist bump against something before a loud thudding sound. Something wet splashed over his arm, and then there was a tinkling _dssssh_ sound when it connected with the floor. Danny kept his arm aloft, droplets rolling down to his elbow.

What was that? What was that? His mind raced, trying to remember through the foggy haze of celebrating, busses rolling and arriving at the hotel where he immediately went to sleep. Oh yes, he left a tumbler filled with whisky on his bedside table. "Can't believe I forgot where I put that," he muttered.

His eyes had closed once more when he was jolted awake. A hand slapped onto his shoulder, pads of the fingers pressing into his skin. He felt himself being pulled back and forth. Then he felt breath on his cheek. For one moment, one brief glorious moment, he was sure he was being bade goodbye by a bird he'd managed to pull the night before. No. The moment he felt the hot, somewhat smelly breath across his face, he knew it was only one of three culprits.

"Danny!" The moment he heard the voice in his ear, it made his guess as to who it could be a lot easier.

Then he heard it from his other ear, feeling his arm that was tucked underneath him pulled out from beneath the blankets. Funny how the temperature between being outside and inside the blankets was so jarring when it was only a few degrees. "Danny!" This voice was shrill.

Of course he couldn't get the luxury to sleep in at all. The voices continued to call his name, pulling his arms back and forth in a sadistic chant.

"Danny!"

"Danny!"

"Danny!"

"Danny!"

"For fuck's sake, Danny! Wake up!" Tom shouted from the other side of the room. He sat up from his bed and ran a hand over his face before glaring at his best friend. On a good day, he wanted nothing more than to hang out with his best mate. But to hear consistent screams and shouts when he was to stay rested was when he was grump. "I can't listen to his anymore! Between you and the alarm clock going off every five minutes I can't get any blood peace and quiet!" With that, he flopped back into his bed, pulling his blankets over his head.

Finally, Danny opened his eyes to find Dougie and Harry standing over him. He blinked up at them then asked in a sleep thick voice, "Please tell me I'm still dreaming."

"No, Dan, you're awake," Harry said calmly. He let go of his arm and took a step back, brushing his hair back with both of his hands before eyeing the floor carefully. "I hope it was beer that was in that bottle, yeah?"

"I don't know," Danny mumbled, pressing his face back into his pillows. "I think I got up to go to the loo last night," Danny said, sitting up.

Dougie's eyes widened in abject horror. Beer, water, soda, champagne, wine…all of those things he'd stepped in or had sprayed over him at once time or another. It was part of the rock star life, nothing new. And neither was going to the bathroom in strange places. But having had potentially _stepped_ in someone else's pee, let alone having it washed over his feet, was where he drew the line.

Dougie practically squealed before leaping onto his bed, sticking her feet in the air. He rolled onto his back, crushing Danny under his weight, who groaned in pain. "That's disgusting, mate."

"Not anything worse than you've ever done, innit?" Danny asked. He couldn't help the grin that came ot his face, a low laugh escaping his lips. "Remember how you clogged the shower in that one hotel in Glasgow with your chunks?"

"I had food poisoning," Dougie defended himself.

"At least he had an excuse," Harry said. He shook Danny's shoulder once more before rounding the bed and jumping atop of Tom, who cried out and swatted at him. "Come on, mate. We have some last-minute practice to get in before our interview and radio show. Fletch says." He paused. "Unless you want him to come in and…"

Danny and Tommy immediately shot awake; sitting up at the same time with enough speed that Harry and Dougie were knocked to the floor. "No!" They cried in unison. The last thing they needed was for Fletch to come in and run his mouth the moment they woke up. They'd gotten enough lectures from him over the years to know that getting a lecture right when they woke up was the worst time to receive one.

"Alright, then come on. We have to be in the studio in two hours."

Danny flung back his covers and, still in his boxers, jumped up and walked over to the chair in the corner of the room. He picked up the guitar he had set aside the night before and pulled it up onto his lap. He turned to look out the window of upstate New York. Had they needed to take a bus that far? (Which in reality, was a short distance). No, they could've easily driven. But nothing made a tour feel like a tour without renting a bus.

Though some of his best memories of tour life was when they were piled up in vans driving to some of the closest venues they could make it to, stopping at gas stations to fill up on some of the worse food they could shove down their throats. (Long before any of them decided to go on healthier diets).

Danny glanced out the window as he gently started to pluck at strings, a random melody coming to mind. It was the best way for him to get warmed up let alone to work on writing new songs. Gazing down around the city from his window was always the best part. Getting inspiration from the area around him. It was how he came up with the melody for _Falling In Love_ which had been one of their more successful songs from Radio:Active and one of his personal favorites. The easiest one to write, coming together in about an hour for a demo.

Now they had to come up with new music for an entirely new venture. Excited butterflies filled his stomach. It was going to be one of the best years of his life. Tom dropped himself into the seat across from Danny, eyes half-lidded, glasses perched on his nose, and propped his guitar up onto his lap.

Dougie sat on the floor closest to them with his bass guitar in hand and Harry pulled over a seat from the desk, propping up a practice drum pad in front of him. He always insisted on having perfect posture when playing the drums having had complained of a bad back after shows years before.

And for the next hour they practiced as many songs as they could think of, songs they wanted to play on the radio show that they hadn't before or ones they greatly preferred to perform no matter how many times they've done it. In the middle of working on _No Worries,_ Danny's phone started to ring. He ignored it the first few times then found himself unable to ignore it.

Even Tom shot him an annoyed glance as it continued. Finally, Danny abruptly stopped playing his guitar and looked over at his phone as it started to ring again. Grunting, he swiped it from the table and forced it to shut down. He knew who it was without looking at the screen. His mother never phoned him when it was early, she kept tabs on the time change when he was traveling, and he was the one that called Vicky first. All his friends were already in the hotel and they had a group text they typically used.

No, it was only one person.

Danny let out a low breath, his hand shaking slightly when he replaced the phone. It was funny how little thought he put to his father but how easily he managed to throw him when he was around. Danny returned his hands to the fretboard placing the pads of his fingers against the strings. He drummed his fingers against the frets creating hollow pings as he did so.

Dougie watched him for a moment before saying, "Mate, I know we all have our little talents, but I think you should keep the drumming to Harry."

Danny smiled a little but didn't respond.

"This has to do with your Dad, doesn't it?" That got Danny's attention. He whipped his head back around to Tom who calmly pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's not like it's a big secret, Dan. He was there at the first shows and since then your phone has been ringing off the hook. Is he asking for money or is this, like, _really_ bad news?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him."

"I understand."

And Danny knew he would. Tom was the one Danny first spoke to about his problems with his father. When Vicky first told him the news, Tom noticed Danny's fake smile, his loud laughter not reaching the same decibels it always had before with little effort. So Tom took him out to the nearest bar for a round of drinks and listened as Danny spilled his guts, offering his support when needed. And while Tom did understand, there was a major part of him that didn't. Tom's parents were happily married as long as they'd been together.

Same with Harry's parents. Dougie was the only one he could really relate to with it but he refused to speak about his father at all. So much so that fans constantly questioned why he never mentioned his father and where he was. Dougie ignored them.

But Tom was the calm force Danny needed to stay sane in moments like that.

"What's up?" Tom asked. "Is he trying to get something out you? Money or something?"

"Using your name for fame?" Dougie guessed. "I've had so many people lately trying to say they know who I am when I haven't heard of." He paused. "And, you know, the ones that managed to get into our hotel room."

"We woke up to a fan trying to get into our room, pretending to be room service," Harry agreed as Danny and Tom laughed in surprise. "It would've worked had they known that we don't actually eat breakfast until bloody noon." He jerked his thumb over toward Dougie. "Dougs nearly killed them."

"If I'm being woken up that early by a massage, then that's fine," he said. "Otherwise, let me bloody sleep." He slumped over his guitar, strumming the strings absentmindedly. "The last thing I need is for pictures to be taken of me when I'm sleeping." He glared up at Danny, Harry, and Tom as they all tried not to laugh hysterically. "Like _some_ people I could mention."

"I mean, who could have guessed that a picture of you sleeping would've been passed around of easily?" Danny asked, widening his eyes as innocently as possible. Tom snickered and leaned over, giving him a high-five. He flicked his hair from his face. "Where are James and them, then? Aren't we all supposed to be going down for the interview?"

"Fletch has them doing a round of Busted interviews," Harry explained, putting an exclamation point on the end of his sentence by tattooing out a rhythm. "You know how many people are asking about an actual Busted reunion. They feel it's better to get at least some word out there so that people can be appeased, so to speak. And it brings attention to McBusted"

Dougie snorted. "I'd like to see the bloke who asks the wrong question and gets those three mad at them." He smirked. "Or else one of them says something wrong and then they get Fletched for the next hour."

"That I'd pay a million to see," Tom agreed an almost evil glint on his eye. Then he reached over and grasped Danny's shoulder, shaking him. "Seriously, Dan, do you need any help? You've been acting really weird lately."

"Weird how?" Danny regretted asking the question as soon as the words came from his mouth.

He knew he _was_ acting different. Usually he couldn't keep a secret to save his life and now every time his phone rang he slipped away before anyone could ask. As much as he enjoyed being onstage to forget everything, he was now going through the motions. Even looking online, he could see that fans were starting to become worried for him. Being onstage was like a drug to him where conversing with fans on social media were small hits, and apparently, he 'wasn't as energetic as usual'.

Even Fletch and Jake had commented that he hadn't heard Danny laugh in a while. (Or what everyone else called his 'psycho laugh').

"Just weird, mate," Tom pointed out. He strummed his guitar for a few notes, waiting for Danny's response. "You know you can talk to us about this sort of thing. It's what we're here for. We're a band, a team, best mates. We're not supposed to go through things alone."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to talk about it," Danny said. He let out a long breath, mimicking Tom as he played a few notes. "Can we just practice please?"

"Sure, mate," Dougie said quietly. "No worries."

Harry counted off a beat with a few muted, chucking strums before they started off on playing and acoustic version of _5 colours_ for the show.

They were going to be doing something a bit different for the show and needed as much practice as possible. But as it happened with nearly every rehearsal they were in, it soon dissolved into nothing but hysterical laughter and throwing pillows at each other before Dougie was stuck on the bottom of a dog pile with Harry, Tom, and Danny piling on top of him.

It was always some of the most fun Danny had and he wouldn't trade it for anything.

* * *

"Mate, if I'm ever asked what my favorite color is again, I think I'll scream," Charlie said, stretching out on the couch of the green room once more. He brought up his arm and rested it over his eyes. "Who bloody cares what my favorite color is? Or my favorite food? Or my favorite movie."

"I care about the movie part," James piped up, looking up from his phone. "How can _Back to the Future_ not be your favorite film?"

"Because I've never—"

Matt immediately shushed Charlie with a look, subtly shaking his head. "If you ever say you've never seen _Back to the Future,_ he'll disown you for life."

Charlie's lips curled up into a smirk. "I don't know, mate, if it keeps him quiet." He brought up his hand and knocked the wayward pillow away from his face. His laughter faded and he said, "I can't be the only one that's tired of it, yeah? The fucking same questions over and over. Like they don't care about us as a band at all."

James did his best not to roll his eyes. It was the same sort of complaints Charlie had when he was in Busted the first time. The same complaints he started to voice when Busted was starting its downward spiral. Not that Charlie was to blame for Busted ending completely. James could now admit he had a hand in it as well as Matt's attention being brought by the massive number of girls that flung themselves at him and the free booze and drugs that came with their lifestyle.

It wasn't all Charlie's fault, but his comments didn't help. The comments that showed his disdain with the demographic they had. That they didn't understand their 'musical integrity'. The moment Charlie had said that years ago, James had laughed hard, hard enough that he nearly through up. Matt was so out of it he didn't notice—eyes barely closed behind the sunglasses he had to wear due to his ever-present hangover—and Charlie shut down and looked away, not bringing it up again.

"It's bound to happen, mate," Matt said calmly. He stood over a blender, sticking an assortment of fruit inside. "They're just excited to know what we've been up to since we stopped being a band. They asked you plenty of questions about Fightstar, yeah?"

Charlie had to give him that. It made him feel good that it was able to be brought up without eyerolls from James. But it had brought up during the interview. The interviewer had been nice and professional, and the three new hard questions would be asked. Fletch and Jake had warned them about it before they went on air.

"They're going to ask you about your solo projects since Busted ended, and they're going to ask _why_ Busted ended," Fletch explained as the boys put on their headphones, readying themselves at the mics set up in front of them. It wouldn't be long before they were going live for millions to hear. It was as exciting as it was it was nerve wracking. "I tried to black list those questions, but Jake insists that they be asked."

When all eyes turned to Jake, he blinked rapidly behind his glasses, pushing them up his nose. He practically fumbled them to the ground before grasping his phone. Of which nearly slid out his sweaty palms. "It's the draw to the interview," he explained. "Your fans are tuning in to hear about your current projects, McBusted, and if there's any truth about Bused coming back together let alone what tore them apart."

At that Charlie had shifted in his seat, glancing at his bandmates—or rather, a third of his bandmates—and said, "We understand, guys. The lot want some answers, and now we're able to give it to them."

So, James, Matt, and Charlie did their interview with as McBusted, did their interview with the Jacksons as well, played a quick in-studio game of Would You Rather that ended up nearly creating a divide when the question, 'would you rather know when you're going to die or how you're going to die'. (Neither of the radio hosts knew a question like that would cause the three bands to start shouting when trying to talk over each other or justify their reasons when questioned).

Then they were interviewed by themselves and asked a few questions. What does it feel like to be back together? How do they think the band will work moving forward? What can be expected of McBusted? Is there any residual anger between the band since Charlie went solo?

James had said something Charlie hadn't expected, and Charlie said something James hadn't expected. James admitted, "I never felt I was welcome at a Fightstar show, I never got an invitation."

"I didn't think to send an invitation, I thought you would've just gone to support me," Charlie said. "We might've disagreed, but I felt we were still mates."

"You never went to any of my Son of Dork stuff."

"I never thought I'd be wanted there."

And Matt had merely shaken his head and muttered with a grin, "It's like a bunch of fucking mean girls at school," he said, making the radio host burst out laughing. "I'm not going to tell you why I'm mad, you should know why I'm bloody mad. It's like a bunch of wankers complaining about their bloody homework, not doing it, then wondering why they're getting bad grades."

James made a face. "Mate, you never finished school."

"Neither did you," Matt pointed out.

"He at least went to do uni," Charlie pointed out, half speaking to Matt and half speaking to the radio host, who looked at the three curiously. "Or at least thought of it. I never got that far."

"Me neither," Matt agreed. "I was too pissed. Knicked off most of the time."

The radio host laughed again. "At least you're man enough to admit it."

"Oh, I have no problems admitting it. I don't want anyone doing what we did." Matt grinned as James and Charlie laughed as well. He lifted his finger, simultaneously lifting his eyebrows to impart his words of wisdom. "Follow your dreams, kids. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't be a musician or in a band. Just don't do it the way we did. School is important, too."

Now, Matt pressed his thumb into the 'pulse' option on the blender, his other hand holding the top to the contraption together, least not to spill anything onto the table beneath it.

"Yeah," Charlie conceded. "Asking about Fightstar was pretty sweet. Maybe that'll get some push with things as well, maybe get some more American fans to it."

James approached the next subject carefully. "And now we have McBusted. It'll be fun to play all of our old songs again, and to come up with some new stuff will be sweet. Getting all of our ideas together to put on a good show."

Charlie agreed with a nod, making James let out an audible sigh of relief.

To break the tension even further, which was one of Matt's special talents he said, "It's just as well that you guys managed to get through this without having to argue with each other. I mean, I reckon it would've made good radio, but at least you didn't have to threaten to eat another scab to do it."

James and Charlie immediately went green, remembering the moment. Matt had always been the biggest daredevil of them all, practically egged James and Charlie on to get out of their comfort zones when needed. Truth be told, Matt could be a bad influence on them. On one of their first trips to New York, doing a similar tour they were currently on; a cross-country radio tour, they were posting simple dares to each other. Matt said he would take a dump in CBCG, a famous yet defunct, rock club was a place anyone who called themselves a musician wanted to visit.

A national landmark of the punk scene and a place anyone from the UK music industry wanted to visit. They'd get the chance once they were in New York, but to keep their own senses of entertainment upwards, James had said he'd eat his own scab if Matt were to take a dump at the club's bathroom. Anyone that had known about CBCG also knew how much of a dive it was. Starting off as a dive bar, then a biker bar, then the rock club meant it was festooned with graffiti, stickers, and other mementoes one wanted to leave to prove they were there.

The bathroom also lacked an adequate door and it was used…like a bathroom. Dirty toilet paper and waste was everywhere and yet it was a right-of-passage of those to visit. Matt called James's bluff and was pleasantly—and disgustingly—surprised when James ate the scab, meaning Matt was to fill his part of the dare, of which he hadn't one seeing the state of the restroom.

It had been funny then, though James ended up throwing up for hours, later.

It was moments like that that tended to bring them together despite the arguments and passion aggression that tended to follow them around.

And from the way Matt started to laugh at the looks on their faces, that made James and Charlie laugh as well, it meant good things were about to happen.

He truly believed that.

* * *

 _Splash!_

"I give that one a six," Sydney said as he effortlessly treaded water. He leaned back to give Patrick some room as he resurfaced from under water, spitting a mouthful towards his youngest brother. "The execution was fine, the entry into the water was sloppy."

"What else do you want from him?" Rhuben asked holding onto a raft, gently kicking her legs back and forth behind her. Riley and Noah were smushed onto the raft along with her, propelling the raft back and forth as they watched. "He's not part of the blood Olympics."

"If any of you lot were in the Olympics we wouldn't have to worry about anything in life, yeah?" Julius pointed out, sitting on the edge of the pool alongside Ronan, swishing his legs through the water. He reached up and rubbed his shoulder, already feeling his muscles tighten. He thought after years of having seen his brothers and sisters that their welcome 'tackle hug' he would've seen coming. But no, being dog-piled by five siblings was still as unexpected, painful, and wholly welcome as ever.

"I don't know, the added pressure to represent your country would probably kill you," Ronan teased.

"I don't know, if we pulled a Bradbury we might bring some pride to the mainland," Riley joked, making the Jacksons laugh at her reference to the speed skating fluke from years ago. She then brushed her hair back from her face. "Otherwise, I reckon we're better with our surfing and wakeboarding appearances."

"Speaking of which, I'm guessing you decided to appoint yourselves to the hotel pool because you want to go surfing?" Julius nodded when each of his siblings brought a finger to touch the tip of their nose. "Figures. You lot really need to get over it."

"Coming from the bloke who lives in Oz year-round?" Patrick snorted. He brought his hands up to push his long hair that was plastered to his forward backwards. "You can go to the bloody beach anytime you want, right? While over here, we have to suffer." At that, Julius gave a wry smile. "Anyway, are you going to come in or what."

"I'm fine over here," Ronan said with a wave of his hand.

"You _always_ say that," Sydney pointed out, almost pouting.

Ronan gave him a look, lifting and eyebrow behind his sunglasses. "One day you'll have to stop doing that. It's not cute anymore."

Sydney waved his hand. "I still have a few cute years left in me. I'll be apples." He shook his hair back from his face. "What'd you think of the interview?"

"I think it went well," Ronan replied, immediately slipping into 'manager mode'.

He worked hard to keep himself in two different minds when working with his kids. He'd had a long history with them, starting when he discovered them in the mall and after a short while of development, signed them to his record company. Then, working primarily as their music producer he got to know them as people as well as clients, becoming so close to them that he knew he had to adopt them when the time came. Now working in a dual role as their manager and music producer, it became easier and easier for him to be of two minds.

Though he would be the first to admit that, as their adoptive father and manager/music producer there were many times the lines blended. It was fun but sometimes made it hard to discipline and take each other seriously when things needed to be done. Things always worked out in the end, but it became difficult every now and then.

At this point, with a interview fresh behind them, reflection was easier to speak about in the moment. "Your acoustic performance of _I'd Do Anything_ was probably one of the best I've ever heard you perform it."

"And your social media channels are blowing up about it," Julius added, quickly falling into his role with their band. He looked over their social media channels, determining what it was they were to know or not know as well as dictating tweets that had to be specifically tailored for announcements and giveaways. Otherwise, he ran their merch table at their shows, interacting with fans and businessmen alike. "A lot of positives, glad that you're trying to go through the US again."

"Any downsides?" Rhuben asked, curiously.

For every ten positive tweets or mentions, there was always one negative one. Typically, they didn't put much focus on it, having heard some of the worst things that could be said from Robert during one of his alcoholic rages. But they were human. Sometimes, they couldn't help but look to see what people were saying and otherwise it was due to some sort of a scandal or 'controversy' of clash of cultures coming to a head.

"None that's gotten to much steam behind it, I reckon," Julius said honestly. "Wondering about the next album and all that. And, of course, excited to hear the new music snippets we've been demoing as of late."

"So the sooner we get that going, the better off," Ronan agreed. "There's been a lot of people who've received your, playing of Hero, well." He couldn't help the proud smile that came to his face. And for a moment he looked at them as if he were seeing them for the first time. "And then there's Dancing with the Stars, The Voice, and your acting, you guys are doing a great job with everything that's come your way."

"Well, we'd be out of a fucking job if we said 'no' to everything, wouldn't we?" Riley asked, lifting an eyebrow. She laughed and ducked away when Rhuben and Sydney simultaneously splashed water towards her. "Just asking a question."

"She's got a point," Noah said. "We've taken a few small breaks here and there, especially right after we announced what Robert was doing." He shook his hair from his face. "And when Ronan formally adopted us. Would right now even be the best time to take a break?"

Sydney's eyebrows twitched. "What do you mean? I thought we were going to take some time for school and stuff."

"No, we're going to do that, I meant stop all together." The second the words left Noah's mouth, silence stretched around them. "What? I'm not saying I want to stop completely. I'm saying—"

"The one thing that you guys need to remember through all of this is whether or not you're in a band, you're still a family and that's the most important thing," Ronan interrupted. Julius gave him a look that Ronan pointedly ignored. "It doesn't matter what you do because you'll still have each other to support each other."

"Unless they try to kill you," Sydney said. He said it innocently, but his siblings immediately knew the implication behind his words. So much so that the moment Sydney started to whistle under his breath, what sounded suspiciously like the Jaws theme, they all rolled their eyes. "I nearly _died_ , okay!"

"Syd, you _weren't_ going to die and we weren't trying to _kill_ you," Julius said, putting emphasis on certain words in his sentence. "We were just trying to teach you how to swim."

"By throwing me into the deep end without knowing how to swim?" He threw his hands into the air. "Who _does_ that?"

Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah all immediately pointed towards Julius, who let out a cry of outrage. Rhuben held up her hands when he glared and said, "You were the one who told us to do it, and that was a good idea."

"And you _listened_ to him?" Sydney demanded, indignantly.

"At that age, he convinced me to eat grass," Riley said, making a face as if she could taste it.

"And for me to snort pepper," Rhuben said. She sniffed, wrinkling her nose as if she could still remember how the burning pepper felt.

"And for me to jump out of a tree onto a trampoline," Patrick said.

"And for me to try parachuting out of our bedroom window," Noah said. He motioned between himself and Patrick. "We broke our arms."

"Honestly, I think the biggest takeaway of all of this is that you guys are gullible idiots," Ronan remarked. "And Julius was a criminal mastermind in training." Sydney threw his hands into the air once more, this time his expression morphing into 'see? He nearly tried to kill me.' "As a matter of fact, I think, we'd all be much safer if—whoa!"

Julius reached his hand out from behind Ronan and shoved him into the pool. The second he fell into the water, he reached out and grabbed onto Julius's arm, pulling him in as well. Julius sputtered as he popped up from beneath the water, shaking his hair from his face before his brothers dove on top of him to push him down once more.

Julius easily overpowered them before pushing them away to grab onto his sisters and threw them aside. Then Ronan grabbed onto his arm and held him still as he was splashed in the face on all sides. Their shrieks of laughter echoed off the walls of the pool as they continued to mess around.

They wouldn't get many other times to hang out like that, without having to think of themselves as a band, doing all their work to the fullest. No, now was time for them to relax and enjoy each other as friends, as family.

* * *

 **A/N:** So, from what I've got planned out so far, this story will either end at 40, 45, or 50 chapters or so. Of course, that's before actually writing things out because pacing tends to move things around every now and then. But, I've also go another Just My Luck/McFly story planned after this one. Not sure if it'd be a sequel yet, but I've got another one coming.

Also, I'm glad to have finally done a chapter that had to do with each band by themselves. Not only is this a series/fandom where I'm glad to REALLY show the friendships that my OCs have with each member of the band (though a lot of it is mentioned as backstory) but it also brings to show their friendships within each other as well.

 **Cheers,**

 **~Riley**


	19. Chapter 19

"Where is it? Where is it?"

Katy fell to her knees as she dug through large piles of clothes sitting on the foot of her bed, the floor, and the chair to her vanity, and her dresser. Growling, she sat back and placed her hands on her hips. Tilting her head, her long ponytail brushed her back, gently swinging. Of course she had time to get herself looking right, thought she had enough to find her passport. Her mind had been so scattered recently. Too much excitement, too much anxiety. Too much everything.

"Come on, Katy, think."

"The first sign of madness is when you talk to yourself," Jake commented, leaning against the door to her room. Katy turned a glare to him and he smiled, chuckling to himself. "But I guess we all go a little mad sometimes. I find that it really helps me with some problems I'm having." Then he tilted his chin, the fluorescent lights on her ceiling bounced off the rim of his glasses, concealing his bright blue eyes. She was sure he was looking at her sternly-if his voice was any indication-as she turned to check the closet. "If you don't find that passport, I won't have a choice but to leave you behind."

"I know," Katy grumbled. She ran her hands over the top of her head, rested them there. She closed her eyes. What did she do with her passport? They took the picture, waited for it in the mail, it arrived and she…? Nothing. It was all a blur of laughing at each other's pictures and becoming a hermit to finish her studies. "You don't think I could use your luck, do you? Just long enough to find it and I'll give it right back."

Jake shrugged. "No can do. I gave it to Ashley for her presentation today."

"I thought Ms. Braden basically said whatever Ashley wanted, she could get." Not that it was any stretch of the imagination to think things would work out. Even with their passing the luck back and forth, Ashley always seemed to come out on top in some way, shape or form. Or maybe Jake was the lucky one. He was engaged to an amazing girl and Katy had never seen him so happy.

"That's true, but that doesn't mean the same for Mr. Phillips. And you know how he can be." Jake lifted the snow globe that sat on the shelf near him and turned it back and forth. He shook it a few times and watched as the 'snow' inside gently drifted around, swirling with the glitter inside. "Between you and me, I'm glad I don't have to work as closely with him as I used to."

Katy smiled wryly. "You're finally working your way up to take his job?"

"I could never take his job. Too much stress, not enough fun. And you know me, I was perfectly happy without money." He lifted his gaze meaningfully to her. "Even when we were eating nothing but Ramen for every meal."

"Yeah." Katy made a face. "It was good. And the Ramen cake we made was great, but I bloated so much."

"Me too."

"I still blame you for my yearbook picture."

"How many times do I have to apologize for that? I _really_ didn't think you were getting any bigger."

Jake tried not to grimace. He knew nothing about raising a girl and by that point, should've known there was some truth in her worries about appearing bigger on camera. And he should've been a little more concerned about his growing midsection as well.

But what could you do? He spent long hours working on music. Writing songs, producing songs, recording demos, trying to get those demos to be listened to by key people in every record company in New York. Those long nights meant nothing more than fast food and other junk that managed to strike his fancy. Then, of course, was hanging out with McFly. For a _long_ time they only thing they did was order out, and order out, and order out. It broke up the monotony of having to feed himself and Katy when their Aunt Martha worked too late. Or, as Jake noticed, slowly started to lose herself the older she got. He still remembered her panicked phone call when she stepped outside her apartment building and got scared as she didn't know where she was.

And now here he was, trying to get his favorite cousin to Canada and she how was she repaying him? By not having her passport. He could admit it was a last-minute decision. A spot had opened in the MUCH Music Festival, headlining the band Simple Plan, that the Jacksons were quickly invited to play. Pushing their radio tour back a week, Ronan immediately took the opportunity, thus making McFly, Bused, and the DarkElements rush around to find their passports, renew ones that needed to be done, and determined whether any VISAs or Green Cards needed to be issues.

Trust Katy would've been the last to be told. She knew her cousin could be blindsided by work, but to only let her know about their impending travel the day before? _And_ when she was finishing up her final exams? That was just plain cruel.

As it was, Katy couldn't imagine what she'd had done to it considering the mess she'd managed to create just by getting bogged down from studying. "Yeah and now I might not be able to go to Canada. I'm going to blame you for that, too." With that, she threw herself to her stomach and wiggled under her bed to search through there.

When did she start to gather so many shoes? Oh yeah. When Jake signed a longer contract to work with Masquerade Records that extended to his contract with Island Records, Fletch, and the UK division of McFly's work. He'd taken her on such a shopping spree that she could barely remember what they bought at what store. Since then, his guilt of working so hard seemed to have kicked into overdrive with how many times he said for her to take his credit card and buy whatever she wanted.

"Well, do you have everything you need for the radio tour? We'll have to bring that with us, too."

"Yeah, it's all right there." Absentmindedly, Katy pointed out from under the bed. She continued to push shoe boxes and dressing bags back and forth. Finally, she grabbed a familiar looking back and shimmied backwards out from beneath the bed. She sat back on her heels, studying the wooden box; it didn't look spectacular by any means. There were tiny plastic pieces of jewelry festooned on the front, top and sides. "What is this?"

"Your memory box," Jake said. Finally, he replaced the snow globe on the shelf and grinned at her. "Remember? You got it from Riley and Rhuben before they went back to New York. And—"

"—I remember," Katy interrupted, feeling her face flush. She didn't need to go more into what memories she chose to put in the box. She remembered closely. Each and every one. Some more embarrassing than the other. "You don't need to remind me."

"Let's see." Jake ignored her. "There's the plastic ring, the napkin, the movie ticket, the—"

Katy grabbed a handful of clothes from the floor and hefted it at Jake. He laughed and dropped the clothes into the open bag by her feet. There were too many memories attached to it all—saying much to the box in general. The plastic ring—she'd gotten that as a gift from Patrick and Noah. It wasn't one ring, as it looked in appearance, it was actually a ring attached to a bracelet, the connector stretching down the back of her hand like a gauntlet. It was one of the best gifts she'd gotten.

Of course, it'd been when she had a small, tiny, _slight_ thing for both boys (of which she was sure they knew) which made her love the gift so much. But that was neither here nor there. The napkin had been from the Hard Rock café where McFly really made a hit with New York…and she'd spent most of the night talking to and mooning over Danny. In her own opinion, she was young and stupid back then. And simply only cared about the attention he gave her.

The movie ticket, though. That was her most favorite memory. It had been one of the best days of her life. There was a double feature of her favorite movies at the theater and she'd begged Jake and Aunt Martha to go. They'd both said they were too busy to take her, and she had no friends back when then to go with. She wasn't allowed to go by herself, so she was going to miss out.

Come to find that she had come back from school to find Jake waiting for her with a limo, two tickets to an IMAX showing, and a wad of cash as big as her fist to spend on whatever she wanted. She didn't care about the money at all, it didn't interest her. (Admittedly, it was a good investment for her fashion design career). She just wanted to spend time with her best friend and he'd managed to do that with more insight than anyone else had ever had to her.

"My passport's in here," she said. And to make sure Jake couldn't look inside and embarrass her any more, she opened the box large enough to stick her hand in and snatched the passport out from inside. She flipped it open to check the expiration date and waved it overhead. "We're good! Let's go!"

"You got it." Jake closed the suitcase next to him and lifted the handle. He rolled it to his cousin and wrapped his arm around her waist.

With a shriek of surprise, Katy was hefted up over his shoulder and walked out of the bedroom. She laughed the entire way down to the waiting limo. Jake didn't let her down, even when passing a group of older women—Katy had to guess it was another one of those older lady conventions that managed to show up every month. Their condominium had a good business center and conference room that was habitually rented out. She laughed harder, passing them, seeing the disapproving looks on their faces.

Katy could only imagine what they were thinking. Probably the same thing she'd always gotten; that she was either dating Jake—which was received with turned up noses and scowls, or that she was a prostitute of some sort. (Why else would she be roaming around the building by herself?).

Nevertheless, Jake deposited Katy into the backseat of the limo and slid in after her, signaling to the driver they were ready to leave. Kat beamed, seeing it was the same driver Jake always got when they were travelling anywhere specific.

"Hey Davis!" She leaned towards the front seat, resting her crossed arms on the seat backs. "How's the baby?"

"The baby's fine, Miss. Katy," David replied with a warm smile. "He's starting to walk now and getting into everything of course." He looked over his shoulder to pull into traffic. "Sometimes I think it's all your doing."

"I'm an angel, Davis. You know that. It was everyone _else_ who were the bad influences."

Katy's smile waned a little. It often surprised her how she was able to keep herself together despite how badly she was being bullied. There were many things she still hadn't told Jake that girls and _boys_ had done to her. Too many times where she tricked him into thinking she'd gone to school but would double-back and stay at the house for the rest of the day. Too many times where she'd cry herself to sleep, where she'd look at her ruined clothes and wonder how to get them fixed, where she'd wonder if she would have her hair pulled, if she'd be shoved, kicked, tripped, her books knocked to the ground, or harassed.

It was funny how everyone treated her differently once she hit puberty and started to mature. How nicely they treated her. And yet she still remembered so much about it that she was still a loner. College was fun, but nothing was more fun than going on tour and hanging out.

"Yes, I've seen too many times where you'd come back with something questionable in your hair," Davis agreed.

"Not glued to her face?" Jake teased.

Katy swatted at him. "If we're telling embarrassing stories, I have plenty in my arsenal about you."

"Point taken."

"There's plenty of doughnuts in the mini-fridge for you."

"Awesome!" Katy sat back and, at the same time, she and Jake surged for the mini-fridge for their treats. The rest of the way to the airport, Jake looked through his phone to answer work emails while Katy texted her friends on hers, music softly playing through the speakers.

Finally, they arrived at the airport and moved quickly through security before heading towards the first-class lounge where the rest of their group was waiting. "Hey." She stepped through the door and ducked out of the way of a flying sweatshirt. "What are you doing?" She asked Patrick, who was frantically moving through his bags.

"I can't find my passport," he explained.

Katy glanced at Noah, who stood beside his twin with his arms folded, and rolled her eyes. She nodded towards his backside and said, "It's up your ass, dude," with the most amount of sass she could manage.

To anyone else she'd said it to, they would've taken it as an insult. In Patrick's case, he stood up straight and reached for his back pocket, pulling out his folded wallet. "Ah. Cheers, mate. I forgot I put it there."

"You always forget you put it there," Katy pointed out. She waved to Sydney, who shouted her name across the lounge, ignoring the annoyed stares of the other passengers in the first-class lounge. "It's basically a tradition by this point."

"Not that it'd matter much, yeah?" Noah said with a half-smile. "We'd probably be stopped at the border, anyway."

Katy's eyes widened in disbelief. She saw his teasing smile, the same one that came to Patrick's face, the same one that always managed to make her heart flutter and asked, "What the hell do you guys, do?" It was a joke, she knew that. But they also managed to easily joke about the beatings they received from Robert. It made her uncomfortable. She couldn't joke about her bullying with as much ease, and abuse was bullying times ten.

"Language," Jake said as he walked by.

She laughed along with her friends. "What would you have been stopped for this time?" She tapped her fingers against her tips. "Smuggling in illegal firearms? Grenades?"

"Don't be stupid," Patrick said. He paused. "Fireworks."

"They don't stop you at the border for fireworks."

"Knowing our luck they're got our passports flagged," Noah explained. "They'd stop us for anything." He shared a knowing grin with Patrick. "By the way, we may need to put some in your bag, just so we can go Ronan off our trail."

Katy laughed and looped her arms through theirs. "What would you do without me?" She asked. She stiffened when Noah's eyebrows shifted together and he grasped her hand in his. He lifted it, turning it this way and that, eyes laser-focused on the ring she wore on her finger. "What?" Her breath came out shaky. Then she scolded herself. These were her best friends, whom she had liked at one pint or another. But that was years ago. Too much time apart. Absence made the heart grow fonder? She'd heard of that, believed it on her end.

But on their's...

"Hey!" Patrick grinned when he noticed what Noah was looking at. "That's the ring we gave you for your birthday."

"You kept it?" Noah asked.

Katy nodded. "Are you surprised?"

"A little. I thought it would've rusted by now. Pat got it really cheap." Noah elbowed his brother in the side, flashing a mischievous grin his brother's way. Patrick shoved him back with a cry of, "I put my name on it, _you_ bought it." Noah tilted his head. "Like that's any better."

Katy grinned and pulled her hand from his. Tightened her grasp between their looped arms. What would they do without her, indeed. It wasn't a question that needed to be answered, really. She already had her own answer to it. What would she do without them? Be incredibly lonely, honestly. Her depression would probably flare up again. Some of her darker thoughts would probably flare up again.

She and Jake had already lost so much, she couldn't bare to put him through anymore loss.

Besides, she was going to be going on a long radio tour with some of her best friends.

Something was always bound to happen and she was waiting for the monotony of her life to be shaken up a little bit.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, it took much longer for me to update this than I meant to. Sorry about that. But I'm sure you all are understanding about it. Got a small reveal for Katy here. The pacing does pick up, by the way, I know it's been pretty slow as of late.

 **Cheers,**

 **~Riley**


	20. Chapter 20

The flight to Canada wasn't any different than any other flights the bands had taken. Jake, Fletch, and Ronan opted to sit in first class—which was just as well, it was four hour flight to Calgary but they knew how easily their bangs got bored—with the rest of the group sitting in business class. While the three men got caught up on their work, the bands did what anyone else who was traveling did—watched movies, took videos and pictures to share on social media, and annoyed each other.

At one point, Tom got so fed up with the blatant giggling from behind him as his seat was repeatedly struck. He didn't know who the offender was, but had an idea. The giggling from James, Matt, Harry, and Danny was a good enough hint. So much so that Tom eventually flipped around and heaved his flying kit towards them, only resulting in smacking a sleeping man in the face. Their laughter, Charlie's then included, increased in volume while Tom's face turned an absolute tomato shade of red and slid in his seat, hoping no one noticed.

Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Katy, in their row, played a game of squares that got so competitive and violent that a pencil stabbed through the middle of the sheet and into the palm of Sydney's hand where it stuck out and bobbed back and forth with his friends. It wasn't a wound to be worried about, especially not considering how many wounds he'd already managed to get over the years. By that point, the flight attendant shook her head at the group every time she passed by them.

Riley, Rhuben, Jacqui, and Gen were a bit quieter compared to the boys, passing magazines back and forth, sharing images found on their phone, contorted themselves into strange positions to take photos of each other for their social media accounts, and shared food. It wasn't until they started to play a game of 'Never Have I Ever' that had them found shrieking with laughter and squeals of disbelief at some of the things revealed, that the flight attendants than became very aggravated of the group.

So much so, Tom and Riley—despite also being part of the problem—apologized profusely to the flight staff once the plane landed and they debarked, ensuring it'd never happen again and that they'd be better behaved. All the while their managers stood aside, nodding in agreement, chaperones to teens as it were.

And Dougie sat and watched the entire interaction completely inebriated. It wasn't hard. Once he found that alcohol was available on flights—of which Harry had been the one to show him ages ago, it wasn't much to push Dougie to take it. Truth was, he was afraid of flights and flying. Something he shared with Rhuben. When they first started to work together the two would sit together and clamp onto each other's hands with such a death grip that marks would be pressed into each other's hands. Of course, that was before dating where Riley and Danny then found themselves the victims of their fear.

Now, without someone to help him through, Dougie turned to alcohol before flights. And…sometimes, Xanax. But only if he could get his hands on them. It was a bit more difficult than people thought, especially when he was in the public eye. He was surprised he could hide it for so long, so the alcohol was the best way for him to do it. Not just because of the ease of getting it, but because of how easy it was to hide.

How many other people enjoyed having drinks when flying? Nearly everyone over the age of eighteen and those that got into it when they were younger. It loosened him up, made it easier for him not to worry about the want to shed off his skin and just live.

When the flight landed at the airport, Dougie was in a much better mood. He teased Tom for having to apologize to the flight attendants before he sucked in a deep breath through his nose. Opening his mouth and throat, he started to sing. "O Canada," before abruptly stopping so that he could think of the next part of the song. "Does anyone actually know the words to the song?"

"No," came the unanimous reply.

Then, the bands quickly had to move into 'fan mode', which could easily be Dougie's favorite part of being part of McFly and his worst nightmare. He wasn't sure how anyone of them figured out what plane they were on, where they were going, and what time their flight landed, but true to form, every time they arrived at some airport, there was a gaggle of fans waiting for them.

If Dougie managed to take a drug or get inebriated enough, talking with those fans while Jake and Fletch dealt with getting their bags together and transportation to their hotel, conversing with fans was a blast. He could truly be himself; crack jokes, of the sex and fart variety, that made his fans laugh. Okay, if he were being serious, he knew they'd laugh at anything he said. Fans did nothing but try to please them wanting their attention if even for a second. He knew what it was like, being a fan of Blink 182 himself. It had been nothing short of a dream the day he met them in the recording studio when they were working on their first album. Nerves got to him and other than his initial outburst that Blink 182 were, indeed, in the building, he clammed up and watched them. Wanted to do everything he could to impress them.

And so he managed to word vomit his entire Blink collection and how much of an influence Tom, Mark, and Travis were to him. (And, of course, that was before he later found out that Travis was Rhuben's drum mentor while Mark was Patrick's bass mentor, embarrassing himself even further the next time they were all together). How Mark ended up becoming a friend of his, Dougie wasn't quite sure. It was still a miracle to him. He still worked hard not to scare him away with his thoughts of their music. Somehow, Mark continued to stick around, just as his best friends did.

But then there were days where being around his fans, was horrifying for Dougie. The days where he wanted nothing more than to pull a baseball cap over his head and increase his walking speed so that he could get away from it all. Away from the cameras being shoved in his face, away from the screaming, away from being jostled back and forth while he worked to smile for every camera and phone that was shoved in his face. Talked to whomever was on the phone that Dougie could hardly hear over the screaming.

And yet, he seemed to be the only one who had that problem. Tom, Harry, and Danny always turned this way and that, smiling and posing every time a camera turned their way, easily chatting to their fans. Danny, of course, was the one most at east. How many times had Dougie seen him sneak a fan into his room for some 'private time' before seeing them snuck out later in the morning? Enough so that he, Harry, and Tom had a running tally for it. So far, Dougie was the closest to winning free dinner.

That day in the airport was different. With such clarity that it seemed like the protective film over his eyes had been torn away, Dougie answered every question that was asked of him, took every gift thrust into his hands—opening some of the more delicately wrapped ones, and posed for as many photos as he could. But Dougie wasn't one to keep from being bored so quickly. No, they just had a four-hour flight and needed to stretch their legs, needed to get their energy back for the show that night.

So much so that he started to get a little bored. He looked down the line of his friends signing as many things that were shoved in their face, he could tell some of them were just scribbles, and saw Gen and Jacqui standing nearby. Not celebrities by any means—of which Gen said suited her just fine—they had a few people talking to them as well. Just by being friends of people who were 'famous' they were interesting, too. Any time he would post anything that had them tagged in it, they'd get a surge of new followers and demands to know who they were.

Whether it was his boredom propelling him forward, or the alcohol—Dougie wasn't quite sure, he knew what was going to happen would be nothing but noteworthy. Or at least, the uninhibited part of his brain was saying so. He looked up and locked eyes with Jacqui, who was cheerfully conversing with one of their fans about something. (If he had to guess with the wave of their hands, probably something Harry Potter related…or something about meeting the queen).

Unabashed, Dougie went over and announced his presence by throwing his arms around both girl's shoulders and licked them both on the cheek. At the same time, the girls screamed, backing away from Dougie, their shouts then hidden by his loud laughter, complete with clapping hands. It was a series of pictures that'd make McFly buzz all over the internet. He really was making sure they were getting some attention. Pictures were going to be posted of finding them in the airport anyway, chances were, it'd be in The Sun and The Daily Mail within the next day talking about how they looked once they landed.

He seriously was just trying to lighten the mood.

So why was it that Tom was looking at him in frustration, Harry looked like he was concerned, and Danny completely ignored his antics as he continued to sign autographs and grin as he answered fan's questions.

Spoilsports.

* * *

"How're you feeling?"

Dougie moaned quietly, holding his head between his knees. Even holding a cup of tea between his hands, slowly breathing in the sweet, sweet aroma of—was it Earl Grey?—the liquid that was to warm his insides more than the alcohol did. Honestly, he didn't understand what the big deal was, why his friends were acting so annoyed. Didn't they know how to have fun? He was just loosening up a little bit instead of being the statue in interviews.

The other guys teased him enough about it. So what he was shy? He didn't like being the center of attention. And being thrust into the spotlight of a band that did nothing but interviews when all he wanted to do was play music…it was a hard change to make. So much so he cringed whenever watching videos of their older interviews and watching him not say a word. Only sit there, contemplating what else was being said and smiling. Watching as the comments rolled in asking why he didn't say anything.

And now that he started to talk more, they wanted nothing to do with it. "I feel fine," Dougie finally said, lifting his head. He winced against the fluorescent lights and the throbbing drums that could be heard through the walls. "Why?"

Matt looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Because in my experience, mate, nearly passing out on a taxi ride isn't so normal."

"It's just jet lag, mate, I'm fine." Dougie waved his hand, braved a large smile so that he could prove it. Who would look at him and think something was wrong? Not even Jake or Fletch looked at him funny as he went through his antics get a good photo. And besides, he was helping Jacqui and Gen out. It couldn't be fun to sit back and watch as their friends had so much attention put on them. "And, you know I hate flying. I'm just trying to keep my mind off it."

"If that's all it was," Matt said.

Dougie's eyes narrowed. He stated to say something, then thought better of it. There was no point. He didn't need to hear the concern. Besides, hadn't anyone seen people get drunk before? Okay, it wasn't just that he was drunk, he knew it was because he had mixed it with that Xanax. But was only half of one, he didn't think it'd be too bad. Harry had helped him through it before.

 _Then again,_ Dougie reminded himself. _You've never acted that way in front of fans before._ Besides, he didn't need to talk to Matt, he needed to talk to Tom, Harry, and Danny. They needed to figure out what they'd do for their first show of the radio tour while they had the time. It was going to start right after the festival was over. That was what was most important.

"Mate, I had too much to drink on top of being on a fuckin' plane," Dougie said. He watched Matt's face, smiling to himself when he saw how quickly Matt's expression turned to one of amusement. "Just be glad you didn't sit next to me, or else I would've bloody chundered all over you."

"Mate, I would've killed you if you had."

"Get in line. Danny and Harry are still waiting their turns."

Matt laughed and leaned forward, ruffling Dougie's hair before moving to leave the green room. Dougie watched as the guest badge around Matt's neck swung back and forth. Reaching up his own hand, Dougie grasped the one that sat around his. It suddenly felt very heavy, dragging his neck down further and further. He took in a deep breath, swallowed hard.

"Have you seen Riley?" He asked.

Matt paused at the doorway. His eyebrows rose then lowered in rapid succession. He licked his lips and shook his head saying, "She's doing soundcheck with the others," he reminded Dougie. "One last run through before the show." His lips then pressed together, pursed, almost looking annoyed. "Do you want me to get her for you?" Even Dougie couldn't miss the exasperation in Matt's tone.

Dougie quickly shook his head. Once. Twice. Three times. Nope. No. Probably wasn't a good idea. He didn't want to bust in on her buzz when she was about to go onstage. No, he knew that to be some of her favorite times of being a performer. Knew how she liked to use that time to meditate—or _try_ to meditate as so much was going on and it was nearly impossible to get time alone—to get in touch with her spiritual side that, to her own admission she didn't get in touch with a lot.

Actually, he remembered with a fond smile, right before going on stage was a time they used to spend together. When they were going together, when it was just their two bands that were touring together. They'd sit in the alcove just off the side of the stage and talk about everything but the show they were about to put on. Riley was good at making him feel at ease despite the nerves that flared up every time he was about to go on stage. Distracted him. It was that distraction that made it hard for him to see she was receiving the same sort of pain he'd felt so many years before his father left him, his sister, and his mother.

It was funny how easily things could change. And how it was always his fault. Clearing his throat, Dougie lifted his head and said, "No, it's fine. I can just talk to her later." Matt nodded, paused as if he had something else to say, then left the room. He was replaced by Jacqui a few moments later.

"Hey," Dougie greeted her, setting his mug aside.

"Hey." Jacqui went to the couch and clopped next to him. She looked over as the door pushed open even wider and roadies started to fill the green room. They walked around, ensuring everything from the rider had been filled, before piling themselves around a card table in the corner of the room, lowering their heads over something. "Everyone's waiting for you."

"And you were the one who had to come get me, right?" Dougie asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Did you play Paper, Scissor, Rock and lose?"

The side of Jacqui's mouth turned upward. "Who said anything about losing?" She poked him on the cheek. "If you ask me, I'm the one who won." Dougie couldn't help but smile back. "So you _do_ know how to smile? I thought you'd be fine, even on a flight as short as that one." She wiggled a finger in her ear. "Though, I have to admit, I should've known once you stuck your tongue in my ear."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm used to it. My brother likes to give me wet willies all the time." Jacqui started to laugh to herself. "I think I'm the only person in New Jersey who has to wear ear muffs almost year-round."

Dougie laughed again. He leaned back on the couch, letting out a long sigh. He could feel himself started to relax, to come down. Things weren't so bad anymore. Everything wasn't so worrying, so scary. No, finally, he was getting a chance to deal with his feelings. Even if his way of dealing meant he didn't deal with them at all. It worked for him and that was all that mattered.

Dougie didn't realize his eyes had fallen shut until he heard Jacqui's voice once more. Further away this time. "Hey, are you coming?" She asked. Dougie opened his eyes, lowered his chin, and looked at Jacqui. His eyebrows raised. "You don't have to worry about actually going on stage this time." She grinned, poking herself in the chest. "You get to be like the rest of us schleps and sit in the audience, screaming and singing along. You'll have a blast."

Dougie was sure of that. And, somehow, Jacqui knew it, too. How was it that she could know so easily when everyone else seemed to be ignoring it? Dougie's smile widened, a real one. One of the first real ones he'd had in a while. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute. Fangirling and screaming my guts out. I just need to do something first."

"Alright, I'll save you a seat. No one will get close without receiving a sharp elbow to the ribs."

Dougie laughed as Jacqui left the green room, blowing pretend dust off her elbows and readying them for battle with the throbbing, anxious crowd. Even from where Dougie sat backstage he could feel the leaps and bounds of energy that blew through the arena, filling him with more energy he could imagine when not being on stage.

It wouldn't last.

Dougie knew it. He'd crash faster than he'd anticipate, return to that shell he wanted to simultaneously tear himself out of and cocoon himself in. And, in his experience, there was only one way to go about doing that. Especially when people were starting to notice how quickly drinks were going missing. So Dougie waited until everyone left the room and went over to the group of roadies that sat huddled around a card table. They glanced at him with apprehension then turned dismissively when determining he wasn't a threat to their fun.

And so Dougie watched, waiting as they pulled out a small baggie of white powder and started to dump it on the table, scooping it together into small piles, others lined up into rows.

"Hey, mate," he said quietly. "Do you think I could bump some?"

"Sure thing, man. Pull up a chair."

And he did.

* * *

 **A/N:** Took a bit for an update. Just to let y'all know, I'm in two minds of the story. I'm of one mind to finish it as I do have a plan of how the rest of the story goes, but I'm also of a mind to completely start over and split the plots into four stories, one focusing on each McFly boy with the subplot focusing on one of the Jacksons. But we'll see.

Also, I may have said they were going to Toronto/Vancouver before if not just saying Canada. Idk, I'll fix it later. Lol. Hope you enjoyed it.

 **Cheers,**

 **~Riley**


	21. Chapter 21

Tom was starting to get tired. He'd never put much thought into how exhausting concerts could be. Sure, he'd been on stage enough to know that by the end he'd be dripping with sweat. There was a reason bands took small breaks before encores. There were reasons there were drum solos or guest musicians to give them time to rest. There were reasons why the bands tended to take off their shirts and throw them into the audience.

Not just for the girls, though Tom always found it embarrassingly funny whenever the audience would shriek like banshees whenever he or the other guys would even bring their hands close to their shirts. A fake out to wipe their faces clean for a few seconds, showing a sliver of their stomach, was enough to let them go in a feeding frenzy, waving their hands in the air to grab the shirt. Not to mention how many people got into fights as soon as the shirt was lobbed into the crowd. Tom always hoped no one managed to find themselves knocked out or injured in some way over it.

That was nothing compared to being in the audience of a concert. Nothing compared to the energy and swell that came from being around the happiness and excitement of thousands of people directed toward the stage. Different from taking _back_ the energy from the audience, rather than giving it. And Tom was right in the middle of the energetic crowd that jumped, sang, and screamed along to the music that the bands played throughout the music festival.

He'd never been to a music festival before. His anxiety wouldn't give him the opportunity to do it. Too many people, crowds too large, felt that he as suffocating. Danny, James, Matt, and Charlie always said they'd wanted to go to Coachella and it looked like that dream was coming to be a reality soon. Tom simply didn't get it. He was in an area that was far away from the stage, far away from the mosh pit and the area that would have him be pushed, shoved, and practically beaten up to come close to the band. And yet he felt nothing but absolute exhaustion.

His legs were about to give out and when he sat down to take a break, it felt that all eyes were on him. Okay, Danny and Harry looked at him like he was crazy. Dougie, somehow, had gotten enough energy to last him a lifetime, was jumping back and forth and screaming along with Matt, who seemed to have the most energy out of anyone whenever music was involved. Charlie, a bit more chilled out than the others, simply had his hands in his pockets, nodding along to the beat of the song, laughing with James about something every few minutes, shoving each other on the arm. Jacqui and Katy, like Dougie and Matt, were shouting and screaming to the lyrics while jumping around.

The managers stood aside, opting to watch from the audience than from side stage. They, in Tom's honest opinion, looked out of place. Not just as they were older than most of the teen and twenty-year old girls in the audience—he had to admit it seemed to be an even split of guys in the audience as well, but they _looked_ like they worked in the music industry in some way. Every time there was a burst of pyrotechnics or a death-defying jump from Simple Plan or the DarkElements they'd lean to each other and say something while the other two would nod or shake their heads. Dressing up more professionally than the t-shirts and shorts the audience wore added to their displacement.

Tom couldn't hear over the deafening screams around them, but he had the sinking feeling he would be in the gym more in the next couple of days considering how high the guys were able to jump. (And how easily they were jumping off their monitors, over the others on the crowded stage, to the stage floor). He could already see the competitive glint resting in Harry's eyes. It was never something Tom was happy to see, especially when he and the others were the ones to suffer the consequences for it.

And it wasn't that Tom wasn't enjoying the show, he was. He loved watching his friends race back and forth across the stage, working on making the show as good as it could possibly be. (And besides, how many times did you ever see a band share a stage so here were three drummers playing at once? Not even Travis Barker could pull it off). But Tom's entire life and career was on stage. Going to a concert wasn't something he found fun when he played them time and time again. A sense of boredom set in quickly, also aiding in him deciding to sit down. And as crazy of the looks he was getting from his friends, he knew it was something they'd all experienced at one point or another. _Maybe not James,_ Tom thought. _I'd love to meet anyone who was as into music as he is._ That age old childish joke, "If you love it so much, then why don't you marry it," was something Tom was sure James would do if he had the chance.

If people could marry the Eiffel tower and rollercoasters, then James could marry music.

A smile came to Tom's face. The first one in a while, he realized, that was genuine. And it was all from a stupid joke that, really, only he and his friends would find funny. When was the last time he'd truly smiled? Music used to do it for him. A lot of things used to do that for him. He hadn't been so into music and everything as much lately, which was strange for him. He used to love music more than life itself and while he was excited to see more of the US with their radio tour, being around it so much could easily become a drag.

Tom leaned back in his seat as the stage darkened, waiting for the encore of the festival to start. Something thwacked against the back of his head, making stars explode in front of his face. Tom winced and leaned forward, rubbing the knot that rapidly started to form. He hoped it wasn't someone's fist or foot that had nearly given him a concussion. It was probably the only bad thing about no one in the US really knowing who they were. He could go wherever he wanted without hassle, but he was treated like everyone else. A bowling pin in a crazy crowd of fans.

Tom scowled, letting out a heavy breath. Just had to sit through a few more songs and he was good to go. He winced once more when there was a sudden boom of sound from the audience and stage alike. Did everything have to be so loud?

"How you doin' tonight?" Pierre Bouvier, front man of Simple Plan shouted into the microphone as the two bands started to play the opening intro to a song the crowd clearly knew and loved.

Another roar that made Tom's head nearly split in two.

Riley, who stood by Pierre's side, microphone in hand—having traded out her guitar to Sydney-shook her head. A playfully disappointed pout came to her face—one Tom had seen guys fall over themselves for many times, and added, "Can't hear you; how you all doing tonight?"

An even louder one.

"Let's keep that energy up for this last song." Pierre started to bounce up and down, amping up the crowd. "I hope you all know this one, this is Jet Lag." He punched the air with each downbeat of the opening before bringing the microphone to his mouth to start singing. "What time is it where you are?"

"I miss you more than anything," Riley sang right after.

"Back at home, you feel so far."

"Waiting for the phone to ring."

The two then turned to each other and continued singing in harmony. "It's getting lonely living upside down. I don't even want to be in this town. Trying to figure out the time zone's making me crazy." The beat thrumped in with the rest of the bands' backing vocals as they started into the chorus, the audience jumping up and down with each word.

 _"You say good morning, when it's midnight. Going out of my head alone in this bed. I wake up, to your sunset, and it's driving me mad Ii miss you so bad and my heart, heart, heart is so jet lagged. Heart, heart, heart is so jet lagged. Heart, heart, heart is so jet lagged. So jet lagged."_

Tom rubbed his forehead. He felt a thumb to his side and got ready to yell, he was dead tired of the people behind him constantly pushing and shoving. His retort caught in his throat when he noticed Gen sitting next to him, bringing her foot to her lap, rubbing her ankle.

"You okay?" He asked instead.

Gen didn't respond. She kept her head bowed, deftly running her fingers over her ankle bone, twirling it in a circle. For a moment, Tom felt foolish. Wondered why he thought it was a good idea to even try to start a conversation. Girls weren't foreign to him in any sense, he'd had girlfriends over the years, but not like the one that got away. He was a romantic in every sense of the word—maybe too much so if consistently questioning everything he did when he was around the person he'd broke up with almost eight years before.

His stupidity, however, immediately washed away when he noticed a small, claylike knob in her ear. A ear plug. A very smart decision for someone who was going to be in the audience of a concert. There were those who said they didn't want anything to interfere with them hearing the music, but those people, Tom said, were crazy as they later complained about tinnitus and hearing loss. Nothing was dumb about protecting your hearing, why else did band members wear in-ears on stage other than to hear each other and cancel out the noise of the screaming fans? If anything—and it truly proved how much of a romantic he was—Tom felt more for Gen in that observation alone.

Nevertheless, he reached out and plucked the ear bud from her ear, making her wince at the sudden change in volume, and leaned close to repeat his question, "Are you okay?"

Gen looked confused for a moment, then nodded, noticing his shifted gaze to her ankle. "Just rolled my ankle," she said. She laughed, motioning to the platform sole. "I guess it's not a good idea to wear platforms to a concert."

"You could've been wearing heels," Tom reminded her. He nodded to his left, making Gen lean over, her wavy hair falling over her shoulder as she did so. The two looked over and watched as a pair of girls—who were already tall—seemed to be seconds away from completely falling over. Breaking their ankles, maybe. "I've seen some weird things over the years, but that takes the cake."

Gen tossed her head back in a laugh. A laugh Tom couldn't her over the music. She leaned in, putting her voice close to Tom's ear so that he could hear her. Tingles shot up his arm. How lame. He was like a thirteen-year-old boy again, unsure of what to do the second any girl came around him.

It was times like these Tom wished Carrie was around. Apart from the fact that she knew every little thing that would ever embarrass him and would do so, she was great at calming him down. He knew what it was like for people to hate their siblings. He saw some of his friends from home argue and bicker with them as much as possible. He and Carrie were never like that, they gave little jabs here and there, but they were very close. Probably because they both felt like outcasts, Tom thought.

What eleven, twelve, thirteen-year-old didn't think it was weird that Tom was more into NASA and science and Back to the Future than sports? Truth be told, other than friendly competition, Tom hated sports. He was more of a sensitive soul and loved to learn about life, never understood why people—namely Harry and Danny, and the Jacksons—always felt the need to be best at everything. When it was sports day at school, Tom knew he would never win, couldn't run fast enough, couldn't kick a soccer ball very well, couldn't keep up with cricket, and dreaded it. Carrie was the same, she preferred musicals and theater and acting and was bullied for it as much as Tom was.

They spent many hours of the night, when he lived at home, talking about their hopes, dreams, and everything that came along with it. Carrie teased him mercifully about every girl he was ever into and he found himself moving into the big brother role of protectiveness when she started to date.

 _If she were here, she'd tell me to stop being such a baby,_ Tom thought. As shy as Carrie could be, she was at least very forceful when it came to things about her brother than she was about her own life. Maybe because she'd pestered and followed him around so much and determined herself to be an expert on him.

"Not even seeing Harry, Danny, and Dougie charging at your in their skivvies when you were playing in Manchester makes the list?" She teased.

Tom tilted his head back and groaned. They had been on their Wonderland tour, one of the first nights of performing in Manchester, Tom was minding his own business playing _She Falls Asleep_ on the grand piano that had been brought for them on the tour. It was a slower song, a song that would give the audience time to cool down, and for the other boys to take a short break. He was focused on simultaneously watching the audience and his finger placements on the piano keys when he heard loud screams come from the audience.

He could play piano very well, would be the first to admit his own prowess with the instrument. Honestly, it would be the only thing he was comfortable with. What _wasn't_ comfortable was watching Danny, Dougie, and Harry all in their underwear, charging across the stage toward him. His eyes widened in horror once they reached his side of the stage and climbed on top of his piano, striking poses and dramatically reaching out toward him.

At the time, Tom laughed it off. _Now_ he could laugh it off. Once he got off-stage he, wondered how hard he could restrain himself from killing them all. There was nothing more annoying to him than things going wrong when he was trying to entertain. It was why they were specific with some things in their riders, not just for safety, but because he wanted to put on the best show possible.

"Oh, come on." Gen nudged his arm. She continued to lean across the seats toward him. "It's funny!"

"It's funny _now,_ it wasn't funny then."

"It _was_ funny then. You're just a bit of a perfectionist." She crossed her legs at the knee. "Which is okay, but not everything can be perfect." She shrugged, dropping her hands to her lap. "If it was, things would be really boring."

Tom's smile widened. Not that he didn't know before, but he was starting to understand why she had the nickname Gentle. She did a good job of giving calming advice to other people, helping them out when needed, no questions asked. Easily reminded him the things that were more important than

Gen looked a little annoyed, noticing the lights coming up, indicating the show was over. Had they really been talking so long? The sounds of the crowd started to die down and yet none of their group was moving. They were going to go backstage afterwards, didn't need to have any potential fans to recognize them and follow them back there. Gen huffed and shook her head. "And to think, there's going to be a few more weeks of this."

"Yeah, but instead of planes and first class, we'll be on tour buses filled with mess and Dougie's farting," Tom said. He ran a hand through his hair, started to say something else, then stopped. Long strands of hair fell out into his palm from his movement. He stared at them in surprise, it was much more than what would've come out of his brush, wasn't it? Or maybe he was freaking out. It wasn't so much. Couldn't be.

Nevertheless, Tom ran a hand through his hair once more. His eyes widened when just about the same amount of hair came out in his palm. He shook them away before Gen could notice his worries. Yet, Tom immediately felt himself starting to shut down. Darker thoughts coming to mind. It was bad enough he was fat, but to start losing his hair, too. What the hell did he ever do to have so many bad things happen to him at once?

It must've been karma from somewhere. From getting on the boys for their drug use. For stealing that candy when he was a little kid. For pushing Carrie's face in the mud. For sticking frozen marbles in Dougie's bed five nights in a row in retaliation for Dougie placing spiders all in his room. Something. Somewhere was trying to get back at him.

"Lucky for me, I'm going to be on the clean bus," Gen remarked with a laugh. "You have to admit, as soon as it comes to touring, you guys become so sloppy I'm surprised the bus doesn't blow up from the toxic fumes."

"Well, you're welcome to come around and clean it up whenever you want." Tom laughed, leaning out of the way when Gen punched him hard on the arm. She may be Gentle, but her punches were anything but. "I meant if you ever wanted to stay on our bus."

Gen's eyes flashed. "Are you inviting me onto your bus?"

Tom immediately felt himself flush. He gave a nervous laugh, wondering how he was going to work his way through the conversation as smoothly as possible. Smooth was the last thing he was. He was a self-proclaimed nerd and was okay with it. He wasn't ashamed to admit he liked having her around. "If you want," he said. "I'll even give you a tour. From the bunks to the den. It's only two floors so you're getting the special treatment."

Gen laughed. "Does that include all your Harry Potter dolls?"

"I don't have any Harry Potter dolls." Tom paused. "They're Buzz Lightyear." Gen laughed again. Her laughter, compared to everyone else's, was a much softer one. Almost as if she were trying to keep herself from being noticed.

"Even better," Gen remarked. She gently squeezed his knee. "We need to have someone around, ready and willing to take on the stars." She moved a hand beside her mouth and added not so quietly, "Out of everyone, my money's on you."

"Yeah, like I can take them all in a fight." Tom pretended to punch the air with his fists. He pretended to pop himself on the side of the face. "I can probably take James, everyone after that would easily whoop me."

"Ah, well, muscles aren't everything." Gen tilted her head toward the now further emptying audience. If she noticed it seemed like all eyes were on them, she didn't let on. She was much too classy for that. Though it really didn't help that Dougie still seemed to be bouncing off the walls—or quite literally, bouncing off the seats around them.

God, could he sit still for once?

"Let's go," Gen stood up, brushing off the seat of her pants. She held out her arm. "If I have this much trouble just standing in these things, I think I'll need some help getting backstage."

Tom nodded and looped his arm through hers. He smiled at her, ducking his head when she smiled back. All until the intruding thoughts came once more. _Don't fuck this up._

Bloody hell, it was exhausting how quickly his moods could go from high to low.

He was starting to wonder if it was him.

When, in actuality, it was him.

Just not the way he thought.

* * *

 **A/N:** I forgot how much I liked writing Tom and Gen, they're just so sweet together. But poor Tom, can't seem to catch a break when he's the one who deserves it the most. Lol. Next chapter: The radio tour starts! And so does so much more drama because of Ronan's sickness.

Also, I need to get back to Patrick's plot. Next chapter, I promise. _Bruises On My Heart_ will be updated soon.

 **Cheers,**

 **~Riley**


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